


Pound of Flesh

by Kt_fairy



Series: Ragnarokkr [1]
Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Norse Mythology, The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011), Thor (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Mythology Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2012-10-14
Packaged: 2017-11-14 16:23:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 35,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kt_fairy/pseuds/Kt_fairy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The saga's of the skald's only mention Sigyn's loyal, victorious name a mere five times. A woman virtuous, brave and loyal enough to marry a being such as Loki and to stay at his side through such horrors only gods can conceive deserves much more from history. But no woman, goddess or mortal, is ever so one dimensional. Especially not one who has the ear of Chaos himself... it is probably for that very reason our ancestors tried to prevent us invoking her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. By his side does Sigyn sit, nor is glad

  He could not help it.

  _He had to laugh at it._

_He had to laugh at his own cackles as they bounced madly off the cold stone walls of the cave and flew around the darkness._

_He was going to rip the world apart and no-one would stop him!_

_He contained his laughter as warm fingers brushed over his cheeks, down past his chin and along his neck where the burning poison had dripped from the fangs of the now dead snake. He grinned through the hisses and grotesque popping sounds as his face knitted back together, the venom that had wounded him spitting angrily where it fell from the wounds and landed on the icy floor._

_In a fluid movement, he placed a hand on the back of the body before him. What was now rotten and dirty material, vile to the touch, had once been so soft it felt as if the dress it made was one of his illusions. He pulled the body into his cold chest, her hand still working its magic, and replaced the icy air of the cave with the burning warmth of her. Her misty breaths brushed against his ear as he ravaged her filthy neck, growling as her free hand dug into his shoulder._

_“We must leave here. Odin is not a fool.”_

_“No, he is not.” He tasted her sharp blood and instead nuzzled into her thick, knotted hair as her skin bubbled and welded back together. This cave would have no more pain from them. “Yet, for all his wisdom and power he has but one eye.” He smiled as her fingers dropped from his face to his chest and he kissed her gently. He pulled away to marvel at the violence of her own blood smeared across her pale lips and ran a finger, the pale skin darkened by the centuries of gripping his bloody bonds, over her top lip._

_“The Allfather is not all seeing.” He laughed again as she snapped playfully at his finger and wriggled free from his grasp.“There is a human scientific base 60 cubits above our heads, once we leave this cave you will be able to use magic to get us to the surface…”_

_Loki whipped some dirt and condensation off of the ice wall infront of him and peered at himself. His black hair was wild and matted around his face that was thinner and paler than ever before. He inspected the faint silvery lines on his skin where the venom had melted his flesh. Sigyn had whispered to him at some point before attacking the snake, time meant nothing in that cave, that the venom had done too much damage for her to heal him properly. He had expected much, much worse._

_“Loki!”_

_Her echoing voice tore him from his reflection and he turned to see her standing with one foot on the rock that had been his prison, hand wrapped in his one time chains which had once been their son’s guts, face hauntingly calm._

_“Let us announce their twilight.”_

_He bounded over to her and gripped the chains that had once held his left arm and leg. He laughed again and put his whole divine strength into pulling the chains that were anchored to the edges of the earth. His laugh was drowned out as the earth shuddered and roared around their feet, protesting as the plates smashed into one another to let mountains fall. Sigyn hauled at the chains and the thunder of volcano’s exploding and annihilating swathes of land in the process boomed over the din of the earthquakes. He gave a final wrench and the chains went slack as chunks of the earth broke loose, the ice groaning and cracking around them as the world fell silent after her agony._

_The whole of Asgard would have heard that but so would his son the great wolf Fenrir and the Midgard serpent, his darling Jormungandr._

_They knew exactly what their father asked of them._

* * *

It had been many, many countless years ago when Loki had last been in pain. It had been the doing of the dwarf Brokkr; Loki knew it was foolish to bet on the will of Odin but he could not help it. It was his nature to cause havoc, and setting dwarves against one another in a contest of skill was always very amusing.

 At least Odin had protested against them taking his head as Thor had held him down to allow the Dwarves to get to work.

  The shame of his lips being sown shut had broken his heart. Veland the blacksmith god had silently cut the steel wire in his smoke filled forge; he had been crippled for centuries and was one of the few Aesir who had not sniggered as Loki passed. When Loki had seen his destroyed face in Veland’s coal-stained mirror he had fled from Asgard weeping. He had never been vain, but the shame and the pain and the horrific daemon that had looked back at him in the sooty darkness had suited the hint of something dark that smouldered within him and it was terrifying.

   The hovel was the furthest plume of smoke from a Midgardian settlement; from the finger-bones and raven wings that hung ominously from the trees surrounding it he guessed it was the home of a witch who would probably ignore him and leave him to his despair.

   He had sat hunched in the flickering darkness for hours, glaring at the fire that mocked him with its simple jolly existence. The sun was far to the west when he heard the door creak open and light foot-steps stop in their tracks. The fire continued to snap and pop happily as the silence dragged out. Loki was not about to introduce himself and the owner of the hut was not screaming for a male relative or hitting him, nor was she going about her business, she was just staring at him.

“ _She must be able to tell I am deformed from a glance”_ he thought bitterly and curled himself over more.

   His movement jolted the woman into action and she slowly moved so she was facing his hunched over figure. “Sir, are you hurt?” That was not the dry voice of a woman who read The Runes, nor was it cracked and weakened by old age. He risked a glance over in her direction; her moss green dress was certainly not homespun and her leather shoes, despite the wear and scuffs, were not bought cheaply from a band of raiding Vikingr.

   “I am a traveller who simply wished to borrow some of the warmth from your fire.” He lied, wincing at how his wounds deformed his speech. He saw the hesitation in the ripple of her skirts and knew his lies would not take.

 “Please sir; I am neither a witch nor delicate maiden. I have seen the results of shield-walls and blood-eagles, I can help.” He closed his eyes at the thought of the Blood-eagle* done in Odin’s honour…and he was called the monster of Asgard! She remained silent as he gathered enough resolve to sit back and lift his face to stare defiantly at this woman.

   She did not gasp or recoil or try to keep the horror from her expression. She scanned over his face quickly with bright eyes and frowned. “Yes, I can heal these with little evidence of such…” She growled her opinion of the damage and swept over to the dark corner of the wooden building that hid the jars and bags that held Midgard’s simple medicines. She worked quickly in the half-light, moving instinctively from shelf to shelf in a whirl of green wool.

 

  She came and crouched before the fire, placing a jar of golden honey before it and began to violently grind what she had collected. She carefully collected up the fine powder in a leather pouch and sprinkled a few pinches into the honey, singing to herself so gently Loki could not hear her spell.

  He knew he should leave; he would only cause more chaos here and bring more punishment down on his head. But the magic she was weaving was new, and it held him there.

   “You know that honey stops the puss forming*?” She said gently, face still bowed to the task in hand. Loki hummed an answer, not wanting to hear his voice again. “If mixed thoroughly with certain barks and herbs it can cause one to heal without scars, if the wounds are recent enough.” She glanced up at him shyly, wringing a clean strip of linen through her tanned hands. “It is ready to apply, may I?”

  He pulled his cloak tighter around him and sunk slowly down onto the compacted dirt floor, folding his long legs underneath him. She gave him a small smile and pulled the white sleeves of her under-dress over her hands to move the jar of heated liquid between them. She carefully dipped the piece of linen into the potion and began to gently dab it around his mouth, giving a firm press over the holes and ripped flesh left by the steel wire.

   It did not hurt; he would not allow it to hurt. If he had learnt anything from Thor it was that admitting pain was shameful. He would not shame himself further.

   The honey was not sticky like he expected nor did it burn him. It felt as if she was dabbing icy water from a glacier onto his wounds, it was numbing and soothing, the sweet scent of it calming his raging humiliation and wounded pride.

  She made him a bed of furs before the less mocking fire and told him with a motherly smile that it would take her two days to properly heal him, and after that he could stay for as long as he wished. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *A 'Blood-eagle' is something nasty i'll let Wikipedia explain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_eagle.
> 
> *When Henry V of England was 16 years old he was shot in the face by a cross-bow bolt while fighting for his father at the battle of Shrewsbury. It was a mixture containing honey that was used stopped the wound becoming infected and saved the prince's life. Clever bee's!


	2. One did I see in the wet woods bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation from the end of Chapter 1...think of it as Chapter 1.5

   The endless daylight of summer soon rolled into the cooler, shorter days of autumn. Loki was surprised at how quickly the change had happened when he noticed the ice chill to the air as he supervised logs splitting themselves into fire wood.

  The first time he had offered to chop firewood he had little idea of how much was needed to keep a fire alive and with a wave of his hand had turned a third of the log pile into firewood. When Sigyn had seen the pyramid of wood dominating her home she had cautiously thanked him and over dinner had softly suggested half as much next time.

 Sigyn…what a mystery.

 She wore a veil over her hair as all married mortal women did, but she did not wear the diadem mortals gave their wives as a sign of matrimony, instead she twisted the linen around her plaited hair to keep it from her face. He had watched her, concealed in a spell, as she had combed out her hair before she slept and had marvelled at her tumbling dark red locks and the un-natural strength in her hands and arms. She was not a delicate maiden tragically left in the forest to fend for herself; she was physically strong underneath the softness of her woman’s body and agile as Loki had often watched her clamber gracefully up trees to collect eggs or dance effortlessly across the nearby stream when she thought he was not watching her.

She played the part of a Rune-reader and a healing witch well enough to trick a mortal but her illusion would not fool the god of tricksters.

 He had not yet decided if she knew him for what he was, but the fact she did not look surprised when he brought in the wood without a bead of sweat on his brow made him think she knew enough not to ask.

  “Sigyn,” She smiled up at him from fixing a fur collar to his cloak, face contented in the cool sunlight. “I see you have a spears lent in the corner. You have provided food for me these past months…would you allow me their use so I may bring us some meat?” Her silvery eyes flicked to the ash hunting spears and then back to Loki. Something in her demeanour had changed, as if even mentioning the spears meant bad luck.

  “You may…but do not stray too far. I…no-one must know you are here.” She looked fearful, but Loki was not concerned. He would annihilate anyone who dared to touch him or his little mystery wrapped up in a woman’s body.

  He let her say a prayer to Skadi the hunter over the spears in his hand, although that gloomy bitch would do nothing for him, and he kissed her hands before he left to try and stop her worrying.

He did not look back to see if it worked.

  Hunting was something he was famed for in Asgard. His grace, agility and speed made him a rival for Skadi, which annoyed the other gods, and the fact he would aid the others prey in escaping a bloody end only infuriated them further. He spent most of his time on hunting trips avoiding the stones and arrows of his ‘companions’. He did not need the spears; he knew kinder ways of bringing down an animal than to rip its flesh.

  He soon caught the sound of a moose on the breeze and took off after it, shooting off spells to bring down trees to keep the animal from bolting off into the mountains. He cackled into the wind whipping at his face as he gracefully vaulted over a fallen branch or a rock and bounced off solid pines to follow the animal’s sudden change in direction, all Sigyn’s warnings of not straying lost to the chase. The animals’ stamina, although immense, was no match for his and it soon tripped on a bolder, flipping inelegantly through the air to land with a solid crunch on its neck, killing it instantly. Loki twirled elegantly over the same bolder and landed lightly over the great animal’s torso, spears held aloft in silent triumph to the applause of the silent forest spirits. They approved of him outdoing the beast rather than butchering it. He quickly jointed the animal, taking all the useable meat from it and any parts he knew were used in mortal magic, hanging it over the spears for the journey back.

 He took part of the great antlers as an afterthought; Sigyn needed a new handle for her knife and antler was expensive in Midgard.

* * *

  He knew something was wrong when he spotted one of the strings of knuckle bones caught up on a branch of the great pine tree near Sigyn’s home.

  The Autumn breezes on Midgard were not strong enough for that.

He crept closer to the hut and heard several raised voices from within the wooden walls. Loki ran on the silent breeze up to the open door and dumped his cargo on the log pile as the muddle of voices became clear.

“Why is there a bed made by the fire?”

“A bed…? I lie there of an evening when I am too tired to go to my chamber.”

“I don’t fucking believe you.”

“It is the truth.” Loki felt something boil up inside him at the sound of Sigyn struggling against whoever was in there with her.

“A man hunts on your land, it does not mean he has come from here.” She sounded muffled, as if someone was holding her tightly.

“Where .Are. The. Spears?!” The man bellowed, followed by defiant silence. “Where are they?!”

“I burned the poles and used the heads as charms.”

“You have had a man here, and he is hunting my lands with my weapons. You have broken your oath to me.”

 Sigyn let out a struggled scream. “Go on Gunnar, you should have had her years ago.” The other man in the hut laughed as Loki cloaked himself with shadows and slipped into the smoky half-light. The two men were obviously Lords; their cloaks and tunic’s richly embroidered and fur lined, their hair and beards neatly combed. One stood with his hands on his hips and watched as the other one pinned Sigyn to the wall with a hand up her skirts while she fought him like a wild dog. He laughed at her and tried to kiss her but she bit back, causing the man to howl in pain and throw her to the floor, “You bitch! I’ll sell you to the Scots when we’ve done with you.” The other man shouted, moving towards Sigyn.

 He did not get far.

 Loki grabbed him by the hair and threw him out of the door. The other man, Gunnar, looked on in horror and was soon being dragged along the ground by Loki’s invisible force, trying to scream for mercy. Loki dragged him to where the other man lay stunned on the grass and appeared before them in all his Asgardian glory, even encouraging the cold north wind to billow around him. The two men looked on in horror. “The Valkyries will not come for you; you will shame your fathers who sit in honour in Valhalla. Your death has come from the son of Odin.” Loki let the rage wash over him as with a word and a gesture he let the nature of an animal fill him as he pulled the body of a Bear around himself and dragged the men screaming into the forest.

* * *

 

 He ran back through the trees, his heart beating in his ears and the taste of blood on his tongue; he dragged the Bear fur behind him, the fur was ruined by the gore but he felt a need to show her what would now happen to anyone who had...

 Sigyn was knelt in the doorway waiting for him when he broke into the clearing. Loki took in the blood smeared across her mouth and where it had trailed down her chin, flecks of it congealed on her disordered white under-dress as he knelt infront of her. “Are you well?” He asked softly, his hands hovering over her arms, uncertain on whether to touch her or not.

 She gave him a small smile, the blood in her mouth making her teeth look all the whiter. “I am. Thank you, Loki.” His name hung heavily in the air between them. He looked into her eyes and saw no fear in them nor shock or betrayal or anger, what he was used to seeing in other peoples eyes when they found out who he was. She looked relieved. “I see you killed a moose while out hunting.”

“Sigyn, who were they?”

“Bring the meat, I will start a fire. I will tell you as we eat, like they tell Saga’s in the Mead halls of Kings.”

 

   Neither ate much as they sat together on the pelt in front of the fire Loki had formed. Mead is what soothes the memory of fear and blood and Sigyn’s supply was limited but sweet like the honey it was made from, spiced and strong enough to cause delightful warmth to spread through Loki’s body. Strong enough to make Sigyn pull the veil from her hair and toss it into the soft breeze that disturbed the tree’s, both watched it dance for a moment before it landed gracelessly on the ground.

 “They were Lord Haldor and his cousin Gunnar Thorkeilsson. They took me from the coast of Thrace* when they were raiding for slaves in the Mediterranean. They were going to…I was taken for their sport. It looks good to have a whore from far flung lands I suppose. I showed them my power to heal and told them if I were to loose my maidenhood it would be made useless.” She noticed Loki’s cup was empty and carefully filled it up with the last of the Mead. “They put me out here, hidden away from anyone who might steal me or ruin me and they brought their wounded and sick to me, used me to terrify the neighbouring Jarls into thinking they had a pet seiðkonur*. I was allowed my freedom on the condition I took no-one in not brought by them, especially no men, under threat of being their entertainment for as long they were able. In my selfishness I have killed men for stumbling upon me…”

“Is this true?”

“Hmm?”

“That if you are taken you will loose your power.”

 She smiled at the fire and shook her head slowly. “Have you worked out what I am, Prince of Asgard?”

“You are nothing I know of.”

“You know of the Olympians? Of Greece? I am the daughter of their healer, Asclepius. I healed your wounds with my fathers power, the honey concoction was for the pain alone. They call me a Nymph in Ellas - I mean Greece.”

 “Is that a species of Elf?”

 “No, no, no, more like the spirits that live in these forests and the Fjords…but not the same.” She made a few attempts at continuing before sighing and pulling her knees up to her chest. “We were the daughters of the mountains and the forest and the seas, dependant on those things we came from for our life force. My mother died before I was born, her trees were all cut down to build some war fleet, and Asclepius was kind enough to keep me alive. I lived for a time in the temple of my father and helped him heal people who came to him; it is why I have such a control of his powers. That is not the typical lives of Nymphs, they live on their mountain or in their glade or in a cave by the sea as I did once and wait for the day when an Olympian or some _man_ would come and rape one of us.”

 Loki looked down at her as she looked over at him, a whole conversation had in that moment.

She let her eyes glance over him, the elegant plain of smooth white unblemished skin that ran from his solid jaw-line down his strong neck to the delicate hollow of his collar bone… and yet, he could only just be into manhood.

 “You deserve to finish this.” The fluid movement of tendons and muscles under the soft skin made her start and she slipped the offered rough wooden cup out of his long fingers and took a gulp. Warmth bloomed throughout her body as it slipped down her throat and settled comfortably in her stomach. Sigyn sighed, contented.

 _You are drunk_ a judgemental voice said clearly in her head. Sigyn scrambled gracelessly to her feet and staggered a few steps before steadying herself so she could give Loki what she hoped was a stern look. He looked mildly amused by her sudden movement. “You saw what I did earlier today, I saw what you are. You are a god, of course I knew for a while but not such a powerful one. I will not be a docile maiden for you. I will give you…” she noticed she still had the cup in her hands and looked around to see where to put it before remembering her point “…I will give you hell although I know it is futile!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have got me drunk!”

“The Mead _you_ drank got _you_ drunk.”

“Do not use that silver tongue on me!” She felt herself blush, and that made her blush more. “Against my better judgement I gave you shelter and my friendship because I know what gods are. I will not be a whore for you.”

“I was hoping you would be a wife for me.”

“W…?”

“You need a way out of this life, which will only get worse now your owners are dead. I need someone strong at my side, a friend, an ally, to keep Asgard’s eyes from judging my every move.”

 She took a moment to realise Loki was being serious before bursting out laughing. “As…As… oh Zeus’ thunderbolt!” Sigyn wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to control her wild giggling. Loki’s face stopped her. It was his eyes more than his face; wide, luminous orbs that reflected the rich firelight smacked into her solar plexus. They looked so forlorn.

 “I am not…I am able to be a husband. I am a Rune reader, I can perform seiðr but I am whole. Ever since I was a boy I have been able to do these things with no modification to my body…”

 “What are you talking about?”

 “With the Aesir it is the way of sorcery that any men whom The Runes choose must be castrated and live as argr as it drains the life force, something women have in endless amounts. Asgard thinks I am shameful yet demand I perform seiðr in times of need…” The forlorn eyes became hard. “But you have no right to laugh at me for it. I stopped you from being raped because I have affection for you…”

“No, it is not that. I never doubted… they really treat you in such a way?” Loki snapped out a ‘yes’. “You are the only true, good man I have met in a long age. That is why I cannot be your wife. Loki, my dear, I…I am used already. Princes marry maidens. Even if Asgard were to overlook that, they will not ignore that I am a Nymph. Asgard will not allow it.” She went back to his side and knelt down, placing the cup back on the soft grass. “You know as well as I, that as soon as we turn up in Asgard either we will both be thrown out or you will be made to send me back here and I shall be your abandoned secret.”

“They would be too shocked to see me with a wife to send you away. If they demanded it I would return here with you. I regret nothing I have ever done.”

“And leave glorious Asgard for grubby Midgard? Those family and friends you love? Pride will not sustain you eternally.”

“I love my brother, my mother…my father. Yet see how they allow me to be treated? They have all the power in the universe, but kindness is right here.” Sigyn pushed her hair off her face and sighed heavily. Loki grinned his charming grin and lent in closer. “My silver tongue has not yet caused any Asgardian to blush.” His eyes made clear any innuendo Sigyn might have missed. “I can gather up the stars so you can hold them in your hands if you marry me.”

“If the stars wished to be held they would not be out of our reach.”

“Nothing is out of my reach.”

Sigyn grinned at this dangerous, bright eyed god-ling. “You aim too low where you should aim high, and too high where you should not be aiming at all.”

“Could you be a wife to someone like that?”

Sigyn looked him hard in the face as she picked up her cup and drained it. A long, long time ago she promised herself she would not be a wife, she would not let her life revolve around a husband, and she certainly would not be so stupid as to get involved with a god. But… Loki gingerly reached out and touched her hand; his fingers were cold so she instinctively wrapped them up in her own. “I would be a good wife to you, Asgardian; I will try and love you as a wife should. I know I will in time. Is that good enough for my part of the deal?”

Loki smiled at her softly, “It might be too good.” He leaned in closer to her, hand resting on her knee before moving slowly up the inside of her thigh. His strong, graceful body was suddenly very close to her as he leant into her neck, letting his lips hover above her skin so she could almost feel their softness, his cool breath sending goose bumps along her back. She breathed in the gentle scent of leather, a faint rumble of rich incense and something frosty that emanated from him. “Is the working of your mind, the gasp of your breath and the taste of your pleasure good enough for a Prince?” Sigyn gripped his hand tightly and pulled back, somewhat reluctantly; only to be met with the sight of his long, smooth neck once again.

She swallowed.

“I will be your wife, Loki. We have all the time in the world for that.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Thrace is now in Greece, it boarders Northern Turkey.  
> *Seiðkonur is basically Norse for a witch.


	3. Firmly forthwith was fastened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story will jump back and forth between two time-lines from now on. To confuse everyone I've left the back story time-line in ordinary font and put the contemporary time-line in Italics.

_Maryam was a long way from Hackney. She had started out at medical school in London and for fourth year had signed up to the Student transfer programme of the World Health Organisation to be placed in Egypt. She had arrived in Cairo a month before the Egypt – Israel war began. Despite the British Consulate and her family begging her to return to home she could not leave people to suffer while she escaped to safetly. She only returned back to England when she got caught in a bomb blast at her apartment block. On the plane home a security firm, who later turned out to be  Mi5, offered to pay for her to train to be a profiler and attached her to their very dangerous ‘latest asset’, allowing her to be recruited by a American Homeland security agency to ‘keep an eye’ on the Americans._

_Now she was on a SHIELD Helicarrier somewhere above the the Indian Ocean, running her latest profiles across to Agent Fury. Or at least she would be running, but the foreboding atmosphere brought about by the hundreds of armed agents milling around the corridors slowed her to a hurried, nervous walk._

_Something was happening, but as usual no-one told the psychoanalysts._

_She hoisted the heavy files further up in her grasp and then nearly dropped them all as a man in full body armour walked straight into her. “Dammit, weren’t these corridors cleared of civilians? Move aside Miss!”, the man barked loudly in her general direction without even breaking step. Maryam was jostled back against the wall, jarring her elbow against a fire extinguisher in the process, clutching the files desperately to her chest._

_She looked up ready to tell the man exactly how much of a dick he was but found her gaze ripped from the back of his helmeted head to a nervous looking guard who was pushing a metal stretcher along the corridor. Her mouth still open to shout at the man, she looked down at who was on the stretcher. Heavy iron bars covered most of the figure, pressing down onto him so hard he could not move an inch. The lower part of his face was covered in a metal gag but a pair of startling green eyes glared up at her with such…hate. She immediately looked down at her shoes and pressed herself further into the wall, feeling that awful presence still pressing against her. She was so angry at them, at SHEILD, for ignoring her pleas not to transport Loki in through the main corridors like this. The humiliation would burn brightly, destroying any hope they had of reasoning with him…if the government were still going down that route._

_Maryam did not know how long she had been pressed up against the wall when a colleague came to check on her.  “Did you see that?! Why have us here if they’ll just ignore everything we say? What are they going to do? We’ve sent him back to Asgard so many times…”_

_“Some agents are saying Fury is going to ignore Odin and have him tortured. This is Loki; poor bastard who gets that job.”_

_“Yeah, and Sigyn will react so well to that! We’re going to die.”_

* * *

 Frigga did not think she would ever forgive her husband for allowing such barbarism to in inflicted on their son, let alone from a Dwarf! She had insisted the household greet Loki at the Bifrost; impatient to see the damage that had been done to her darling boy and to make sure Odin saw it!

   Loki seemed to be even more elegant, more confident and more striking than before when he swept out of the shimmering light of the portal, arm settled affectionately around the waist of the woman with him.

   Sigyn had been laughing the first time Asgard saw her.

 Frigga was shocked that Loki bore no marks of his ordeal, skin unblemished. Loki had assured his mother, loud enough for his father, brother and his friends to hear, that Sigyn had shown him the kindness and the care only family could give.

   While Thor gave a heartfelt speech to his brother about his love for him and the safety of Asgard and his pain at letting this befall his younger brother, Frigga welcomed her daughter-in-law to-be.

   From the colour of her eyes to the way she held herself, everything was so different to what was Asgardian; Frigga knew immediately she had Olympian in her. Loki must have known, and he knew as well as any what Asgardians thought of Olympians.

   At her welcome feast Sigyn had stated plainly she was a Nymph, the stunned silence was broken by her charming giggle, "At least the Allfather will be furnished with plenty of grand-children when the time comes.” The banqueting hall had laughed at their own prejudice; the anger that flashed across Loki’s faced only noticed by his mother, but a soft kiss and a whispered word from his wife to-be had made him grin roguishly as Thor swaggered to his feet.

   “My beloved younger Brother; when I first saw you in my Lady mother’s arms, so enchanting to even one as young as myself, I knew two things. The first that I would protect you and love you all my days, at first because it is a brother’s duty but now it is because you are my dearest friend.” Thor clapped Loki on the shoulder as his brothers green eyes had glittered with pride, “The second thing I knew when you began to grow, that you were clever and skilled at all you turned your hands to, mostly in areas I will never understand, and would aide Asgard in her journey through time. Lady Sigyn will not only build a bridge between our realm and Olympus, but too long have the Skalds’ gone without singing of love. If I may be so bold my Lady, You will be a jewel of Asgard this time next year.” Sigyn blushed violently as Thor took her hand and bowed his head in a show of kissing it as the hall applauded. Sigyn beamed up at Loki who was laughing at his brother.

     Frigga let her self be content and enjoyed the evening.  She had a betrothal and a wedding to organise.

   Odin did not let himself worry. Olympians bore nothing less than perfection.

 

Sigyn was infinitely curious about everything; in her first few months she asked a few simple questions about the Realms that even Idunn struggled to answer. While Loki was at study she would take up a corner of Odin's great library near to his table and taught herself to read Asgardian Runes by struggling through great tomes on everything from Asgardian architecture to law.

 "What do you do when I am sent across the realms?"

  "I talk policy with The Allfather."

Loki peered down at the cacophony of red curls resting in the middle of his chest and grabbed the nimble fingers that were fiddling curiously with the strap of his sleeve.

  Sigyn craned her head back to glance at Loki before turning back to the swirling nebulas that appeared closer to Asgard this summer. “The stars are getting closer to my grasp. And I thought you were using them as bait!”

  “Why do you avoid such an innocent question, Sigyn?”

 "I sit with my maids or are shown Asgard by them. Sometimes I will visit Freyja when I find something to speak to her about. Tyr even told me great stories of Asgardian battles..."

  "You have not ventured down to the rocks and the Ocean, have you!?"

  Loki had not been to the coast in millennia. He used to frequent the rocks with Thor as a child, but then Thor made friends that were too big and rough to play with Loki, so he was left to explore with their nurse; a kind and encouraging woman, but not Thor. When he out-grew a nurse, he made a point of refusing to venture down to the ocean.

 As soon as he mentioned the rocks Sigyn spun up and out of the comfortable circle of his arms and was begging him to come with her. No excuses or entreaties would dissuade her.

 The movement of the nebulas made the next days unbearably hot, a dull continuous heat with no break of breeze or cloud. Nearly the whole of Asgard was down by the sea to try and find some peace from the heat.

 Frigga insisted Sigyn’s maids accompany her; the two full Asgardians found clambering over the rocks hard, much to the amusement of the wild half-Valkyrie, so they sat off amongst some friends they had found as the prince and his to-be wife scrambled through the pools and causeways in the rocks.

  Loki had expected confused glances and gawps that he, the aloof seiđr prince who spent his days in books, had come outside to burn with the rest of Asgard. He expected to catch sniggers at his pale, elegant legs that were shown to the world from his rolled up trousers. He expected comments on the flawless, whipcord body barely hidden now he was down to his linen under shirt. Infact, no-one even gave him a second glance.

 Sigyn caught his eye as they neared the swelling ocean. "They do not expect to see you, therefore they do not see you..." She was about to reach out to his hand but stopped herself. Instead she skipped over the last few rocks and catapulted herself into the ocean with an excited shriek. Loki stopped a few rocks back from the shore and peered at the red flash that danced through the waters.

 Asgardians rarely swam for fear of being swept from the Bifrost. Loki, delicate Loki, weak Loki, Prince Loki, was never allowed to even learn.

"Loki, come in it’s so cool and the sun is doing his best to burn you." Sigyn called from the ocean and dived under again.

 Loki hopped onto a rock closer to the shifting waves, licking the salty spray from his lips.

Sigyn's face was grinning up at him from the surface of the water amongst a cloud of red that bobbed and swayed with the oceans rhythm. "Lokiiiiiiii." She called, spinning in the water before moving over to Loki's rock to pull herself half out of the water so her chin was rested at his feet. "If you don’t know how to swim" she said gently "I ca..."

 Her eyes widened as she caught something behind Loki and she scrambled away with a shriek that was drowned out by the bellowing of men and an almighty wave that smacked into Loki's side.

 "BROTHER!" Thor bellowed amongst the laughter of his companions. "I heard rumour you had ventured outside the palace grounds and had to see it for myself!" Loki pushed his wet hair from his face to look down at the once peaceful waves now all churned up by the great warriors of Asgard. "Will you join us brother? We will not let you sink!" They all laughed at that, but Loki was not listening. Sigyn was close to his back, arms wrapped around her soaked dress to hide her form from the assembled men, eyes still wide from the fright.

 Loki scanned over her for signs of hurt before she started to babble, he was sure half of what she was saying was in no tongue he could even identify.  "Sigyn..."

  "ARE YOU BLIND!" Came the well know bellow of Kenna, the Valkyrie maid, as a worn cloak was folded over Sigyn.

  "What have we done sweet..." Fandral began

  "Silence your tongue! Did you fail to see the flash of red amongst the rocks that we could see from back there?" The laughter stopped as all eyes suddenly fell on Sigyn as her maid Eir began to escort her back to the palace. "Or are you blind to anything past your own vanity. You would bring dishonour on your to-be sister and princess?!" Loki turned from the argument to follow Sigyn.

  "You have no complaint about Loki being here!"

  "I know Prince Loki is capable of acting with decency!" Kenna hissed as she began to follow Loki.

  "Harsh words! Harsh!"

  "I would beat you if not for my mistress’s sake!"

   "Loki" he turned to see Thor had pulled himself from the water, golden body glistening. "I meant to offence. I am sorry..."

  Loki nodded, smiled, and continued his way up from the ocean. People were staring at him now.

  If Thor was to be sorry for it he should not have done it in the first place.


	4. A lover of ill, and to Loki like;

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tempers frey, Balder is adorable, Sigyn isn't very lady-like at all. Hints at rape-victim trauma.

“Balder! Balder no, like this, see. That leg…no, gently, yes! Yes!”

 Loki giggled into his Mead at the sight of his younger brother trying to dance like Sigyn. Thor roared with laughter at his little brother, slopping the Mead from his cup over Fandral who was too drunk to care. In fact he was so drunk he was boldly staring at Sigyn as she danced around the end of Thor’s Mead-hall.

 Word of Sigyn’s impending marriage, which  had spread up the Olympian ranks like wild-fire, was met with consternation at first. But soon the goddess Athena’s judgement and the god Dionysus’ whiles persuaded Olympus to set the gods into action to provide a dowry to impress and intimidate Asgard. Apollo, Sigyn's grandfather, bought the gifts himself; dresses spun by Athena's hand from the threads of gold and silver spiders Hephaestus had made for the task, books of magic were a gift to Loki from Hekate and Hermes, while wine was sent by the ivory and silver boat-full from Dionysus, the fleet a gift from Apollo and Artemis. Each god had contributed towards the chests of ornate ruddy-gold jewellery that Sigyn was now bearing. Gold bands to hold her hair in ornate loops, each ear was covered in gold studs with gold and ruby disks that hung from golden snakes that clipped around her ears. Gold chains decorated her neck and rested on her hips, with a body chain holding a huge blood-purple Ruby in the valley of her breasts that hummed with an unknown life. Her wrists were heavy with golden bracelets that tinkled musically when she moved. Even her ankles were adorned with golden chains. Asgard had been suitably awed by the wealth poured on a mere Nymph.

 Sigyn saw the working of Athena’s mind and was loathe to wear it, but Asgard could not dare insult such powerful and fine craftsmen as Olympus.

“Balder, move!” Thor exclaimed and staggered over to the dancing pair. “Sister, mine.” Thor bowed ridiculously and Sigyn laughed, glancing over at Loki. “I ask permission to retrieve a barrel or three of the Mead you made?”

 The assembled guests cheered drunkenly. “What better way to end an excellent day than with that delightful ambrosia!” Volstagg declared, his size dissipating the alcohol.

 “You honour me gentlemen. I’ll need you to carry it, Brother.” Sigyn put a hand on Thor’s huge bicep and guided him from the hall as the warriors and their women started up a round of very lewd songs about the races of the other eight Realms.

  Balder escaped the gaggle of staggering men and shrieking women to collapse down by Loki, red faced and grinning. “Did I look suitably ridiculous?”

 “You made the night! Asgard will remember for years to come how Balder the Pure made an idiot of himself at someone-or-other’s wedding.” Balder let out his deep chuckle and finished his brothers nearly untouched Mead. Loki caught the cuts on his brothers’ knuckles and grabbed the large hand to inspect it.

“It is nothing. Practice grounds get quite rough you know! Or you would if you got your nose out of those books...”

“What was said?”

“Loki!”

“Someone dared to provoke you. I will know who!”

“Someone at the big feast was being lewd about Sigyn…” Loki looked at his brother hard. “I have dealt with it Loki, please. I would not upset you.” Balder said quietly, glancing up when Loki leant his head against his younger brother’s, running his hand along the stubble just starting to show on his jaw.

 “You are my brother to shield; I am capable of looking to my own care.”

“But…” Thor does not look out for you like he should went unsaid, but Loki saw it in Balder’s eyes. If he had been first born no-one would dare to even look at Loki askance, let alone sew his lips shut. “…they said that your armour was so rich and your skin so fair that if not for Sigyn’s decoration with gold you would look more like the bride, that it was bride marrying bride, that Nymphs must be able to lay children in…See, I have upset you!” Balder grabbed Loki’s wrist as he stood, eyes moments from tears, looking to see who bore bruises. “They would not dare show their face here, Loki.”

“They are ignorant of what I sacrificed for them. I would show them…”

“You are married now brother, revenge is not for you. It is for Thor and I.” It was then that the doors to the hall crashed off their hinges as Thor strode in, barrel of Mead under each arm, roaring his battle cry, echoed by all the men in the room.

Loki grimaced and sat down.

Once the barrels were opened, Thor set Sigyn up onto the dais the head table was sat on. She raised her cup and the hall hushed as she sang a prayer.

 “The gods above and below accept this offering of Mead made from honey of the Bee’s sacred to Holy Aphrodite. May this fragrant libation please you and may the Lady of Cythera bless this drink to bring harmony to those who drink it as well as the love you bestow upon it at your grace.”

She poured most of it out onto the floor before gulping down the rest. “SKAL!” she shouted. “SKAL” was boomed back. Sigyn giggled and leaned over the table to smile up at Loki.

“Is that the Mead you gave me on Midgard?” Loki demanded, anger still simmering under the surface.

The smile fell from Sigyns’ face. “Why?”

“It makes the drinker fall in love.” Loki leaned across the table so they were face to face. “Did you dare enchant me? Trick me into bringing you here so you can become royalty?”

“Brother, please…” Balder begged, distressed at the look on both their faces.

“This is a plot from Olympus is it not?”

“You would argue with me now, when we have just wedded?”

“I will say to you what I will, and I will do what I will.” Loki hissed. Balder felt the pit fall from his stomach as Sigyn’s face became as enraged as Loki’s. She straightened, golden chains quivering as she shook with emotion, silvery eyes on fire.

“Love cannot be enchanted. Lust and desire, burning, consuming want can be enchanted but it is impossible to create Love in anything but a human heart. A sorcerer should know this, but you are a _child_ of Asgard.” Sigyn said it loudly so those who were sober enough could hear her. “To think I had set mine to the task of making Love for you!” She said quietly, so only Loki and Balder could hear her, before jumping down from the dais and storming out from the hall, Loki at her heels snapping all kinds of terrible insults at her back.

 Everyone fell silent as the shouting started in earnest from the depths of Thor’s hall. The roof timbers shook years of unreachable soot and dust down onto the revellers as the argument grew in ferocity. Thor wished to go and calm them but Balder managed to prevent him as they saw the guests on their way- the celebrations’ were most definitely over.

 

Loki stood in the light of the far off galaxies; face softening from his previous rage even as Sigyn looked at him. She sighed, pulling more golden chains off her neck and placing them in the box next to her. “It is not easy for me Sigyn. Hardly anyone likes me, and those that do keep their distance from me. Even my family do not fully understand me, and I do not understand them. I am used to being sniped at, abused…”He looked down at his long, elegant self, “No-one thought I would ever marry…”

 “Every time you snuck into my chambers to talk I thought you had reached the end of your respect for me. Was that your trick? Making me… by feigning your opinion of me so you would have a respectable wife and therefore Asgard would respect you!”

"You twist my words!”

“Are you the one to complain of such things?” They remained silent as Sigyn removed more of the braided gold from around her hips, the heavy metal clattering into the box angrily as she went to unclasp the body-chain. “You would pay me the respect of undressing!”

“We have not made peace yet!”

“We are married aren’t we? It is our duty to get me churning out brats!”

“No wife of mine will be used, whether she hates me or not.”

“I am sure all the people your Royal Highness has fucked over the years will be comforted by the sentiment!”

“There have only been two others…” The creeping slime of guilt doused her anger with pitiful ease.

“I do not hate you. I am disappointed that you would think I would do such a thing.”

“As am I.” Loki resolved himself for what he was about to do. If his parents were here they would tell them to consummate and argue later, it would be resolved in time, Asgardians did their duty. Odin would not be pleased when news broke that Loki had slept in Balder’s rooms, not his wife’s. Asgard would never let him live it down.

 As he went to walk past her Sigyn stopped him with a hand on his chest. “I would not have you put yourself through that shame, least of all for me. Stay.” She took his hand in her own, rubbing warmth into it before moving over to the bed. Loki rid himself of his coat and his boots before he lay down on the opposite side of the furs from her.

"I am sorry. I showed how much of a boy I am, you must have ceased witnessing such tantrums decades ago.” He whispered, reaching out to take her hand again.

“I have seen more childish men than you, husband. I am sorry also, we are as damaged as each other and therefore should never be angry at one another.” She smiled at him, nestling further down into the pillows. Loki watched the movement of her body under her dress and forced his mind to concentrate on something else.

“If you would like, I could teach you Magic.”

“You think I would be capable?”

“You can already use a force for healing with great skill…” Loki picked up Sigyn’s hands and examined the lines on her palms for a moment before he pulled himself up so he was kneeling beside her and muttered to himself as he ran a hand over her head and stomach, the other staying put over her heart. Sigyn tried not a giggle, she was rather ticklish. “I think The Runes would allow you access to their power and I doubt you will find learning them hard.”

“I hope I will be up to their standards...” Sigyn mused, examining her own hands to try and see what Loki had. He let his eyes scan her, imagining briefly how they looked to Asgard. Loki, he who read the Runes and performed seiðr and was elegant and fine; Sigyn not gossipy and pale like Asgardian women but intelligent and passionate, tall with a soft curving body and violent red hair that was so soft and thick that Loki would loose sight of his pale hands if he tangled his long fingers in her curls that smelt so…

 Sigyn would freely admit she was scared when Loki kissed her, he was bigger and stronger than her and she did not yet trust him, trust anyone, as she should. She knew she should deny him, make the liar keep his word but she had wanted him, so very badly, for whole rotations of the moon. Yet Sigyn still trembled under Loki’s gentle touch; she had only known violence from men. She could feel his want for her pressing into her thigh as he kissed her, asking nothing as he ran curious hands over her, finding all the places that made her giggle, biting at the spot on her inner-thigh that made her squirm.

 He was delightfully cool against her heated body, pace relentless but gentle, kisses tender to her face and neck. He was not the heavy, sweaty men that had grunted hot breath against Sigyn’s skin as they had rutted on top of her. Sigyn felt a flurry of emotion welling up in her throat and blinked down the tears. She had never been anything more than an object to use and own and now she was worthy of tender affection.

“Have I hurt you?” Loki whispered, carding a hand through her hair.

 Sigyn shook her head as she ran a hand over the long expanse of porcelain skin that covered his torso, gently digging her nails into his side. She grinned as he gasped, elegant muscles contracting under her fingertips, “I learnt a long time ago that pain only hurts if you’re scared of it.”

 

 


	5. Artifices for all occasions

_Maryam hovered behind Hawkeye at the entrance to the control room as Nick Fury laid down the law to the assembled crew of the Helicarrier._

_He stalked about the surveillance gallery like something out of a comic book film. Maryam smiled to herself as she zoned out of his speech and imagined what he’d look like with a ridiculous Captain Hook moustache. She felt eyes looking at her and glanced around to find Tony Stark stood next to her, amused look on his face._

_Maryam felt herself blush._

_“Penny for your thoughts, five bucks if it’s dirty.” He whispered, charming smile illuminating his face._

_“No, no it was nothing.”_

_“Common! Sig’s isn’t here and I need a laugh.” Maryam flinched at the nickname, used to Tony earning a slap for his troubles._

_SHEILD had always been able to approach Sigyn for negotiations when Loki was ripping apart the world, all debriefed agents reported a charming, reasonable woman. Just as Thor had advised then not to put too much trust in the extent of her reason, Natasha had led a small team of agents to Corfu where the pair had been spotted to try and head off any plot._

_When Natasha had regained consciousness she remembered Loki being in some-sort of trance, Sigyn was on edge but prepared to talk. All was going well until Loki had spoken in some strange language, the sound un-naturally deafening, and an agent had pulled a taser. Natasha described it as every atom in the room turning against them. Her hazy account and forensics pointed to a systematic, anatomically perfect, dismemberment of the six agents sent with her. Natasha had been thrown through the windows of Ulleval hospital in Norway fifteen minutes after SHEILD lost contact._

_Loki was terrifying in his feral insanity; Sigyn was terrifying in her calm reason._

_Yet Loki was single minded in his purpose and one too many times he had been prepared to let Sigyn be collateral damage. So she had given herself in to Mi5, much to London’s terror. Maryam had been assigned her from the start, and when Sigyn was sent over to SHIELD, she went with her._

_Despite her atrocities Maryam had gotten to like the goddess; Sigyn had acted out of love and devotion to Loki, the only thing she had left in the universe. Tony quickly came around from ignoring her to toleration to conversation with the healer because her unstoppable capacity to learn was incredibly useful. Soon a dirty laugh and a sharp tongue endeared her too all of SHEILD, not to mention the fact that she could heal even the most vicious of Loki or Doombot inflicted wounds. Tony introduced her to whiskey and the dirty laugh turned into a nearly addictive husky sound that would make Thor look like a forlorn puppy._

_Tony bumped Maryam’s arm and she sighed in defeat as she leaned over to whisper to him. “I was just thinking that Agent Fury looked like a baddie out of those Marvel films, and then imagined him with a curly baddie moustache.” Maryam hid her face in the files still clutched to her chest when everyone looked around at the pair of them as Tony let out a bark of laugher._

_“I’m glad you find the destruction of Taipei street amusing Mr. Stark, not all of us have the luxury…” Maryam zoned out of the usual argument as she scanned the crowd for the familiar shock of blood red hair. By now a warm hand should be on her shoulder and soft voice whispering secrets and jokes in her ear as Nick Fury spoke, the two giggling behind Maryam’s file. The familiar flash of red made her look up at the gallery. Sigyn should not be up there with Agent Fury…_

_“No!” Maryam yelled before she could stop herself, eyes fixed on the image behind Agent Fury’s left shoulder. She did not care that everyone was looking at her again as she took a shocked step forward, Clint shooting her an un-noticed sympathetic look as he smoothly moved out of her way. Sigyn was in a…a cell. She was one of them… “She’s one of us, she’s a SHEILD agent. Why is she locked up?” Maryam demanded, too shocked to be scared of Agent Fury’s glare._

_“Her risk factor was reduced by being separated from Loki and remaining under SHIELD employment. But now Loki is captured and aboard the Helicarrier, to which she knows all access codes, she poses a high threat risk to us. For the safety of the Earth the President of the Unites States of America has agreed that she should be imprisoned until Loki is debriefed and moved to a more secure unit.” Maryam wanted to protest. Sigyn had British Citizenship, the president had no right…but the UN had been staunchly opposed to ‘aliens’ being granted citizenship on earth. Humanity had suffered enought to be rightfully wary of them._

_“C’mon! You’re not gonna debrief this guy, even if and I’m not saying you will try and torture him, whatever he’s gonna tell us will not have an atom of truth. He’s the god of lies for….God’s sake.” Tony Stark protested.Nick Fury was not paying any attention._

_Like the rest of the control room he was watching the two screens, each playing a feed from one of the cells holding Sigyn and Loki. During Agent Fury’s speech Loki had been prowling along the length of his cell with the pent up violence of a wild cat. Sigyn had been sat demurely on the end of her simple bed, legs crossed with her head tipped back towards the ceiling, looking very uncomfortable. As Tony had begun speaking Loki had stopped in his tracks, staring at the glass wall of his cell like it had just slapped him around the face. He had taken a step forward and Sigyn had looked across at the wall she was sat near, the tears visible in her eyes even on the screens. Loki had stopped a few inches short of walking into the cell wall and held out his hand as if caressing something. On her corresponding screen the Nymph tipped her head to the side, as if leaning into an invisible hand._

_In the control room all hell broke loose. No-one noticed the flash of a smirk cross Sigyn’s face._


	6. Kinsman of Sleipnir

    Life in Asgard settled down eventually after the wedding of its middle prince. Attention gradually moved to other fine women and brave warriors at court so they could continue there lives as they wished – flitting between the Royal Palace, Vanaheim, Thor or Balder’s hall or Earth to visit Sigyn’s family.

  In a place as enclosed as Asgard the attention of the public revolved in cycles and soon there were mutterings about children, more heirs to Odin’s Throne, and the lack of them.

  Years of barren marriage had forced Odin to set the healersof Asgard to find out why- never before had Olympian and Asgardian married, it was feared the two species could not breed and to the melancholy of the realm it was proved right. Sigyn had taken it in her stride and so had most high-ranking Asgardians, strangely. Loki had been heartbroken- his children were everything to him.

  Now Loki was deemed to have more time on his hands, he was often sent away on missions for Asgard along with his brothers –more often than not it ended in a fight for survival. While the others would return with wounds, badges of honour, Loki would return seemingly unharmed to Asgardian eyes. It was only in the darkness of his chambers that Sigyn would heal his snapped bones and wretched muscles his own magic had patched together.

  On this occasion a sizeable mission of Asgardians had been sent to Nifleheim for a diplomatic reason Sigyn’s maids no longer cared about. Their Lady had been terribly ill, a cold fever had consumed her in the weeks since Loki had gone; healing power or not, she nearly died. The eldest maid, Eir- a widow of the Final War- had begged Odin to recall Loki as there was so little hope of Sigyn living.

Odin had refused.

  By the luck of the stars Sigyn eventually pulled through the worse of the un-known illness. She was no longer on the brink of death but she was so ashen and drawn, and her breath, hands and feet were always cold although she never complained of it. Skadi was like an Ormr* that had scented blood and rained barbed words down on Sigyn until Kenna, the Valkyrie maid, took it upon herself to slap the words back into the goddess’s mouth. Lifa, the youngest maid, had never left her mistress’s side all the while. She hoped, in desperation, that her presence would be enough to bring Sigyn out of this darkness.

  Eir met Kenna on her long walk back from the sanctuary of the Valkyries that sat near the gates of the Bifrost. Kenna had ventured out to asked her mother to use her authority to go over Odin's head and send a Sister to recall Loki. Eir sighed when Kenna told her that the Chief Valkyries would visit Sigyn later in the day to confirm her state. "If they do not do it properly then Odin will have us in the Kitchens before you can say ‘compassion’."

"She needs to be away from this place. It is poisonous to one so weak."

"Sigyn is not weak!"

"You cannot pretend she is her old self, Kenna. She has been changed by whatever has chilled her...Lifa?"

The golden girl was pacing outside the heavy doors of Sigyn’s chamber, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she wrung her hands in panic. "Th..The... The Queen." She pointed to the doors as Eir pulled her into a hug.

Kenna growled and shoved the doors open. Frigga looked up from where she was knelt holding Sigyn, trying desperately to comfort her as she sobbed her heart out. For the first time in her life she was glad for a Valkyrie barging in. "What did you say to her!?" Kenna demanded as she fell to her knees next to Sigyn and pulled her out of Frigga's arms and into her own.

"I merely came to ensure my suspicions were correct before I..."

"Suspicions?" Kenna growled

"That we will be blessed with children... somehow Sigyn is with child."

Kenna forced any emotions from her hard face; even the half-Valkyire's knew secrets they should not.

* * *

 

 

 

Thor noticed something was wrong as soon as the Bi-frost deposited them back in the observatory. The ever stoic and serious Heimdal was even more grave than ever. Despite the welcoming parties joy at the return of the princes and their success in Nifleheim, a undertone of strain ran through them.

Frigga went straight to Loki and embraced him as Thor turned to his father and ministers to hand over precious documents and report on the details of the talks. When he turned to his mother Loki was gone. He followed her worried gaze and caught the spots of light on the bridge that marked where Loki had run up its glowing surface.

"Mother, what has happened...?" He had never seen his mother so tense as she took his giant hand in hers and let them stroll up the bridge.

"Sigyn is pregnant..."

"Truly? Why, this is a marvel of The Runes making! This is a reason for celebration!"

"She has been very ill with it. A cold fever struck her hard."

"She is well now?"

"We will know when the child is born..."

 

 

Sleipnir’s ears swivelled towards the door when Loki slipped into the stables, showing he'd recognised his mothers footsteps.

The huge stallion was stood firmly in the middle of his grand stable; the other horses who were his companions were keeping a respectful distance. His large neck was craned around to bump and rest his snout against the arm of the figure who was cradled into his muscular shoulders. Silence hung thick in the sweet smelling air.

 "Sigyn." Loki said so quietly he could barely hear himself. The stallion looked around at his mother and threw his head around before turning his attention to his hay bale. Sigyn stayed as she was, strong hand running along the stallions neck.

 "I think someone may have taken pity on us and used impure magic to give us a child. I was as shocked as you are now when Frigga told me..." She finally looked over at him. Her face was drawn, skin sallow beneath its honeyed tones, "..not as shocked as all those little people who were not at _ALL_ surprised dirty Olympian blood would not fuse with Asgardian."

 Loki cursed and stalked closer to the pair, cradling Sleipnir's head in his arm as his son gave him a fonder greeting now he was within reach. "You think this other magic is what made you ill?"

"No, the illness was something no-one knew of..."

"Kenna said you nearly died and that Father would not send for me."

"I was nowhere near dying, Kenna was just worrying." Sigyn lied.

Loki caught sight of the slight bump showing through Sigyn's dress and laid a large hand on it. So much life was inside her; such a desire to grow and exist it almost took his breath away.

"Do you feel that?"

Sigyn looked panicked, "No."

Loki let Sleipnir's head go and put his other hand on her bump and found himself smiling. "The magic may have been impure, but these children are thriving."

Sigyn gasped, "Twins?"

"Boys I believe." Sleipnir suddenly burst into action, cavorting around his palatial stable; eight hooves thundering on the stone floor as he celebrated his mother’s latest good news. Sigyn finally smiled as she watched her step-sons joy and allowed Loki to hold her hands. "They will be healthy, strong boys. They will be as perfect as their mother."

 Sigyn's gaze snapped onto him, something in her expression thrilled Loki. "No, not like me. Like their father. Powerful."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Germanic word for Dragon, which has become 'worm' in modern English.


	7. The sly god

_Maryam had turned and sprinted along the maze of corridors of the Helicarrier to the storage warehouse Sigyn had been imprisoned in as soon as Agent Fury barked the first order._

_She had to get there before SHIELD did._

_She skidded in just before the Siren started to wail. Sigyn visibly jumped, looking about wildly until she saw Maryam. The strange blue glow of the glass cell made her look otherworldly for a change; it had always felt strange to Maryam that Sigyn looked so human._

_“You get in too much trouble.” Sigyn said, resonant voice muffled by speakers._

_“I’m not in trouble yet, anyone could be talking to you.”_

_“I take it I’m being filmed? Isn’t that illegal?” Sigyn saw the look on Maryam’s face and sighed, “Oh yes, not human, have no rights.”_

_“You were going to be kept in here until they moved Loki, now who knows what they’ll do with you.”_

_“Dissect me, if Hollywood is based in fact.”_

_“Sigyn please.”_

_“I shan’t cry over the fact that I am locked up in a glass box, I shan’t beg for mercy and give up all I know to be ‘set free’. I have lived too long to be affected by this.”_

_“Sigyn, you are my responsibility and my friend; please take this more seriously.” Maryam sighed and stepped closer to the glass wall. “You are not helping yourself by…I don’t know what happened or what you did but it was stupid. Tell me how you…he did it and we might be able to get you out.”_

_“Maryam, you are a dear thing. I do love you. I do not want to be got out of here because I know that Loki is not insane, not completely, and I will not abandon him again.”_

_“I just don’t understand what you’re doing…” Sigyn dropped off the end of the narrow bed and onto her knee’s infront of Maryam, the down lighting on her red hair and luminous silver eyes making her look like a medieval painting of Mary at the foot of the Cross; a woman whose heart had been ripped apart infront of her eyes._

_“Our boys were butchered infront of our eyes Maryam.” Her voice was no longer tinny from the speaker but deep and shaken as if the very cell was resonating to the pain in her voice. “Turned into beasts infront of us and were mutilated by order of Asgardian law. I sat by Loki and did my best to soften his torture for centuries in that cave while a few years pass by over our heads. No-one but Loki will ever understand…” She raised her hand to touch the glass but snatched it back to her chest._

_“No, its ok..." Maryam whispered, trying to reach for her friend, "...it’s not alar…”_

_“Agent Rajavi you will step down.” Agent Fury barked over the scream of the siren and a strong hand gripped her arm painfully. “You have been found to be a spy for the British government and will be repatriated at the nearest opportunity. Take her to the control room and keep her under guard.” Maryam shot Sigyn a look she hoped was supportive as she was dragged from the storeroom and jostled along the corridors she had just sprinted down to the control room and sat down before the TV screens._

_Sigyn was still on her knees by the wall of the cage, watching Nick Fury pace infront of her; Loki had stopped prowling and was sat cross legged on the end of his bed, head tipped back towards the ceiling with his eyes closed, a serene expression on his face._

_“How did he do it?”_

_“Do what?”_

_“You know damn well…”_

_“No, I don’t know what you mean. Unless you can prove it…”_

_“You did a lot of good work for SHIELD so The Council will hear you out personally…”_

_“If this council can refuse to recognise my citizenship of earth can I refuse to recognise their power?”_

_“…in view that if you give us all you know of Loki’s activities they will let you return to the UK on the condition you do not leave the legal borders.”_

_“I don’t know where he’s been. I’ve been here the whole time.” Sigyn pushed herself up so she was standing with her head tipped back arrogantly, body taunt as if ready to deal a death blow. “Held in your citadel of power in the mountains and a guest here in this flying abomination of human boundaries; with access to your agents, your files, your computers, your water supply.”She let her fingertips rest on the glass wall. “Held your trust, so I was allowed privacy.” Her eyes flashed green. “You have me in the wrong cage, Nick.” _

_Maryam’s heart dropped out of her chest as  Fury turned and ran out of shot. Everyone in the control room stood transfixed as the glass of the cell melted into thin air._

_“Why did you not tell us she could do this?” Captain America was inches infront of her face, the soft warmth of his breath snacking across Maryam’s skin as if itself was angry, his large hands gripping the arms of her chair so hard they were twisting in his grasp._

_“She can’t.”_

_“We saw it with our own eyes; how long has she been able to do magic?”_

_“She can’t do magic; we did tests.”_

_“Did your government know?”_

_“Loki is the only one who could do magic like this.” Thor’s deep voice made everyone look back to the screens to see the real Sigyn sat on the end of the bed in Loki’s cell, in the exact same position he had been in a few seconds before as the real Loki marched into the room._

_The glass melted apart around her and the screen went static._


	8. Father of the Monster of Ván

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Children being cute. It all goes down hill from here.

“Mother, Mother, Mother, Mother!”

“Get off her Vali, you’ll hurt her!”

“Mother, Mother, Mother!”

“Don’t hurt her Vali!”

“I’m awake, darling I’m awake.” Vali roared a cry of triumph and leapt off the bed, tearing across the golden floor to climb up his father’s cloak.

“Are you alright Mother?” Narfi said softly, delicate little forehead creased with worry.

“Never been better my love.” Sigyn smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down into the bed, attacking his shock of ruddy brown hair with kisses. Narfi shrieked loudly and pushed her head back with small strong hands. “Don’t you want kisses from your mother?” Sigyn asked, failing to keep the smile from her face.

“No one wants kisses from girls. Urrrgh.” Loki grinned as he scooped Narfi up and threw him into the air.

“YOU kiss mother and she’s a girl!” Vali shouted from where he was jumping on the end of the bed.

“That’s because I’m married to her and I have to give her kisses.” Loki put Narfi down on the bed so he could join his twin in bouncing.

“You don’t like kissing me, husband? That is well; I won’t give you kisses anymore.” Sigyn smiled sleepily from where she lay nestled amongst the furs.

“None at all, wife?” Sigyn shook her head. Loki grinned and crawled across the bed, grabbing Sigyn to his chest as she tried to clamber away from him and kissed the back of her neck. The bellow of “WAR” was the only warning they had before Vali jumped on them, Narfi not far behind. They wrestled across the bed and onto the floor with a loud thud, shrieking and laughing and calling on random Asgardians for help until Loki waved his hand and the boys were suspended in mid air, upside down, laughing hysterically.

 “Now, shall we show Mother the magic you have learnt?” The boys chorused their excitement and Loki let them drop carefully to the floor. The boys giggled and gurned at one another as they each pulled hair from their heads. “Vali goes first as he boasted the loudest.” Loki proclaimed when the boys were ready, Sigyn settled against his chest.

 In a small hand sat one of Vali’s wavy black hairs. With his brow furrowed in concentration he took a deep breath and waved his hand over it. The hair sprang up as tiny, half formed tree, the top still a delicate hair. Narfi already had his hair in hand when applause for Vali had died down. He copied his brother, but nothing happened. Urged on by his father’s smile he tried again, this time screwing up his face so Sigyn had to bite her lip to stop her laughing. This time a perfect bare skeleton of a tree sprang up in his hand for a second before it fell back as a brown hair.

“I’m so proud of you both!” Sigyn cried as she gathered her boys into her arms to kiss them before the boys were clambering over their parents, shouting at one another.

“I shall make a bird before you!”

“No you shan’t! I shall make it and it will fly”!

“I will, and then Sleipnir shall let me ride upon him!”

“No he won’t.”

“He told me so.”

“You can’t talk horse!”


	9. Mighty in wrath, possesses

_Maryam was let out of her chair-come-prison so the armed agents could form a protective human barrier around them; even though Loki was bulletproof, Sigyn should still bleed. Mjolnir and Hulk were the only things that were any use against Loki, but were far too dangerous to use on the Helicarrier and Tony was cut off from his suit._ _Maryam was shoved to the back by the collosal navigation windows and peered over Steve’s shoulder as the Avengers all chattered at once about what they were going to do._

_All fell silent when a faint floral scent wafted into the room, a hint of Ozone, announcing Loki’s arrival._

_Loki sauntered into the control room with Sigyn, the real Sigyn, strolling in behind him in a swathe of elegant blue silk. Maryam thought there would be a difference between Loki’s version and the real woman; the only disparity was the eyes. The Sigyn she knew had warm eyes, this woman’s eyes were so bright it was hard to look at her._

_A few agents started to fire at them but with a sharp swing of Loki’s fist the shooting stopped with a loud crack and a dull thud as a twitching body hit the floor, the head rolling side to side obscenely on a broken neck._

_“What do you hope to achieve? You can’t teleport, you bring the Helicarrier down and you die with us all!” Steve barked, puffing his chest out to cover the gnawing thought at the back of his head that Loki really was on a suicide mission. He did not mind dying for the earth, but the SHIELD agent’s deserved to get away with their lives. Loki looked hard at Captain America before smiling unnervingly and with a wave of his hand, made every single armed SHEILD Agent disappear leaving Maryam sobbing in terror behind the Avengers._

_“Don’t worry; they’re all on the earth somewhere. My geography isn’t that good so it may take a while for you to find them…or them to crawl back into friendly territory.” Loki drawled as he hopped up to Fury’s control screens, “I am not here to persuade you all to step down and allow my rule, or to destroy you. I am here because my wife and I have hundreds of bones and sinews to pick with the Aesir, and this is the only way we may speak to them without fearing for our safety.”_

_“Speak quickly Loki; I will listen to you but not your trickery.” Thor boomed, taking half a step towards his brother._ _The look Loki gave Thor would have drawn blood from a lesser man as he held out a elegant hand and Sigyn came to his side. She had been staring out at the sky surrounding them with wide eyes; ‘Sigyn’ had been terrified of flying when Maryam first met her._

_“Would you speak Sigyn, they would think it trickery coming from me.”_

_Sigyn glanced at them all, looking tense and cleared her throat. “I wish to charge the goddess Skadi with murder, and all the Aesir with compliancy to murder.” Her soft voice took a moment to sink in and an outraged huff came from Nick Fury, but everyone else was looking at Thor’s face. He looked so…understanding._

_“My fathers’ court has spoken, where else can you appeal?” He asked sympathetically, as if he was disappointed there was no higher justice than his father’s._

_“SKADI’S COURT! YOUR FATHER IS BECOME IMPOTENT!” Sigyn’s un-holy shriek made Maryam desperately scramble for the door behind Loki in blind fear. Clint held her still, saving her life._

_“You will not speak of my father so…”_

_“I am your elder ‘boy sem byrjar striđ’, you will listen obediently!”_

_“You murdered Balder who loved you both as dearly as I loved him! Our young Brother, Loki!”_

_“Odin set that in motion when he allowed rumours of our marriage to spread when he knew Loki was still alive, when you all knew and deceived me! Did you think Loki would do tricks at the wedding to entertain the guests!”_

_“You pass on the blame so you do not have to feel the guilt!”_

_Loki grabbed Sigyn’s wrist gently, eyes never leaving Thor’s,_ _“Balder cared for me more than you did Thor, it burns me every moment to know that I killed him – I have paid my dues for my actions. Now it is Asgard’s turn.”_

_“Excuse me ma’am, sorry to interrupt.” Steve injected politely; Sigyn may be the wife of the most dangerous man in the universe, but she was still a lady. She glanced over at him and smiled kindly, something of the woman they all knew returning to her face. “May I ask of who…Skadi(?) is charged with murdering?”_

_“Our sons.” Loki said softly, “You will be surprised, Odinson, how the Nine-realms have perceived the Aesir’s treatment of me. Every court of the nine realms has heard this case, apart from Asgard and Earth; so far Skadi has been found guilty seven times, the Aesir six. We are justified by the Law.”_

_Thor’s gaze slipped over to Sigyn and he sighed. “Who would be able to punish us? Even if the eight other realms rose against us it would be more of a defeat than a victory when Asgard finally succumbed. Brother, I wish it was not…”_

_"Do we not matter?! Are my pleas for justice to be ignored because of who my husband is?! Your justice is corrupted; you have fallen out of touch with the universe… Balder’s death was an accident waiting to happen because of Aesir pride. Loki’s punishment was hard and my sons had no part to play in anything we had done wrong. You bastards have taken my children from me and left me with no reminder of them accept for the image of their broken bodies. Not to mention the succession of Loki’s children your ‘just’ father has had murdered for such a pathetic thing as shame! I will give them a tomb, a memorial in the ashes of Asgard…or the ashes of the Earth. Let the wise Allfather and the just Skadi decide. If not I will burn both!” _

_Maryam wanted to go to her, wanted to pull her down into a hug and let her know she was not ignored, that someone had heard her. But this was not her Sigyn. She knew the profiles of the two standing on the other side of the control room well; she’d written most of it. The deranged megalomaniac that had been such a threat to the earth had been the gentle, personable creature that had been Loki for an unknown amount of time. They interweaved so perfectly, she had no idea who was the greater danger._

_Loki placed a soothing hand on his wife’s back, smiling calmly at her as she fidgeted with barely contained fury. “You see what has been let loose Thor. I tried to show you all how stagnant Asgard had become but…but that went wrong. Seeing as I’m a ‘Popsicle’…” He flashed his gaze over to Tony who grinned at the god; he had no fear after all the things he had said about Loki to his face “…I have no rights there. This I have come to terms with as you must come to my wife’s terms. We know destruction will not wipe out the memory of what happened or appease our grief; violence begets violence, if we burn that onto the nine-realms maybe some good will come of all this.”_

_He turned his attention to the rest of them, only just keeping the smirk off his face. “You see mortals; this is the dealings of ‘gods’ and we must have our pound of flesh.”_

_“You put me in an impossible situation Loki.” Thor rumbled._

_Loki put his hands over his heart, mocking the other god’s sincerity. “Am I forcing you to be responsible, Mighty Thor? Am I making you act like a King, Mighty Thor? Making that brain of yours work, Mighty Thor? Is there no woman in the world to transform you so you can handle this situation? Oh dear, how will you cope?!”_

_“Is there not another punishment that you’d accept, or consider accepting?” Fury appealed to Sigyn hoping in vain that she was still within reach._

_She shook her head at the man and sighed, “I cannot let my scream fade into silence with a compromise. To give you one would be gracious and I want to be gracious…but I have been given no choice. I am sorry.”_

_Steve moved for one of the control panels. What he hoped to achieve was beyond anyone as he had only just worked out how to use a mobile-phone. Before Tony could yell out Sigyn had floored the super soldier with a hand on his shoulder._

_Steve went as white as a sheet, eyes and mouth open wide in a silent scream as he convulsed beneath Sigyn’s grip. “Does not being brought near to death only to be revived feel so empowering, Captain? I hope the experience will make you forgive me.” She hissed into his ear as she crouched over him before she looked up at Bruce, eyes dark. “Does the ‘Other Guy’ see this?!” She barked; Bruce nodded, horrified. “Will he know, as you clearly do, why I do it?”_

_“Y-yes…” Banner stammered._

_Her penetrating gaze flicked over them all. “This is the penalty paid for laying a finger on us; I hope the monster’s tiny mind can understand the sentiment.” She growled as the sound of Steve’s bones snapping and reforming filled the air, forcing a shriek from him._

_“Stop! Stop this cruelty. You are not cruel, Sigyn!” Maryam demanded, and surprisingly Sigyn stopped._

_She stepped back gracefully and took Loki’s offered hand as she surveyed the room. “I have the pure blood of Olympus in my veins. I have infinite cruelty.” They shimmered, and disappeared._


	10. Son of Fárbauti and Laufey

Sigyn felt a sense of dread seconds before Loki had swept into the gardens of Frigga’s apartments, face such a mask of control she barely recognised him. She gave a nod and her maids gladly dispersed.

 Narfi and Vali stopped their sparring practice and stood in silence as their father approached them. “My boys, will you go and prepare for travel, your grandfather wishes to see you.”

“Grandfather is in the palace?” Narfi said gently, pushing a curl of ruddy hair out of his red eyes.

“You will be visiting you mother’s father, he wishes to see you now you have grown into fine young men.”

“You will allow us to go to Midgard?” Vali was nearly bouncing with excitement.

“With your mother, of course.” Both boys glanced at Sigyn before letting their spears fall to the floor and hugged their father. Loki let a smile break across his drawn face and ruffled their hair. “Go on, you don’t want to keep him waiting.”

 The boys excited chatter had faded into the distance before Loki turned to Sigyn. “You must stay with your father until I send for you.”

“Why did Odin leave on Sleipnir? What’s happened?”

“I went to Jotunheim with Thor, but it went wrong. We ended up having to fight our way out and Father turned up just in time or we would all be dead. Thor’s been banished and Laufey has threatened war. Sigyn please, go and get ready.”

“Banished...? Could you not speak to Odin?”

“He would not let me; he knew I would convince him to be more lenient.”

 Sigyn smiled and held his face in her hands; the whirring ache as his brain worked over-time to try and find a way to sort all this out stopped and calm washed over him. “The plan went wrong, that’s no reason to panic. Asgard defeated the Jotunar when they had the Casket. Laufey will know not to start a war when they are so weak and Asgard is so strong, but if you act out of panic now Asgard may loose both of her brave princes and will be in turmoil with only an old one eyed man to lead them.”

Loki pulled his face from her hands, the ache in his head returning like a hammer blow. “Do not speak of my Father in such a way.”

Sigyn dropped her hands, silvery eyes suddenly grey and hard. “I speak of things as they are. He is still a wise King, but no longer any use in war.” They held each other’s gaze for a heartbeat. They knew every inch of each other, mind, body and soul, Sigyn could see Loki was holding something in that was hurting him and Loki could see that she knew and hated her for it. Loki huffed a harsh laugh and turned on his heels, striding off across the gardens. “Loki.” Sigyn called after him. “Loki, tell me!”

“Go and get the boys, you must leave now.” Loki shouted as he jogged up the steps and into the palace. He heard the slap of her bare feet against the hard floor as she raced after him, ever the loving, good wife. Something within him snapped. He grabbed her arm hard, hard enough to hurt, and marched her through the bustling corridors of the palace. The guards and guests that jumped out of Loki’s way were glared down when they tried to protest on Sigyn’s behalf.

 The door of their chambers crashed against the walls as Loki threw Sigyn into the room; she spun elegantly to face him as if he had put no force into it at all, so Loki slammed the doors shut with even greater strength, the room shuddering with the force of it. “It is best that you know I suppose. A woman should know all her husband’s secrets and vices, now we can test just how devoted you are, ever loving loyal wife.” Loki spat, voice like liquid Venom as he prowled over to her, grabbing her by the arm to stop her backing away from him.

 “I am not shameful because of The Runes. It is because I am the son of Laufey, abandoned by him as a useless bastard runt left to die and found by Odin who thought I might be of use to him as some pawn of politics. That is why he allowed me to be used for seiðr. I have been kept locked away here like that Casket as a means to control the Jotnar. When Laufey died it would have all been revealed and I, the enlightened Jotun bought up on Asgard’s kindness, would be placed on the throne of Jotunheim as a client King to Thor. They even tried to enchant you to stop any child being born that would give the secret away; they couldn’t even do that right.” Loki felt pain stabbing at his heart as he took a shuddering breath; looking into Sigyn’s lovely face and feeling the love there join in hacking at his heart. He snarled and shoved her away, the glint in his eyes was not right. He was teetering on the edge of something that troubled Sigyn.

 “Look at how vile I am.” He held out his hand and concentrated on the numb, soothing cold that had seeped through him when he had held the casket only a short while ago. The tips of his fingers slowly turned pale blue before the colour shot up his arm, the feeling of skin becoming harder and bitter cold travelling up his neck and across his face. He had not seen himself in his true form, but from coming face to face with the Jotnar he had a good idea of what his appearance could be. He felt his throat tighten as he looked back at his wife’s face, dreading the disgust he would see no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

 Sigyn was shocked; anyone would be if someone had turned blue in front of them. ‘ _Well’_ she thought ‘ _that explains Narfi’s eyes turning red_.’ Loki’s hand still hung in the air between them and she grabbed it before he could pull away, the warmth of her skin making him gasp. Sigyn was not physically strong in comparison to Loki, but she held him in place as she tentatively reached up to his face.

“Don’t.” Loki gasped; the warmth of her hand on his already causing a thrilling spark to run through him. Sigyn ignored him and let her fingers brush over the dark blue markings on his forehead, stunned at how his skin was as bitterly cold as a biting winter gale. She could feel her skin burning from the cold and repairing itself in quick succession as she let her fingers trace his nose, the marks around his mouth and ran down the smooth expanse of his neck; the warmth of that contact made Loki gasp back a moan. “You have lain with a Monster and are the mother of Monsters!” He managed to gasp out, moving his head away so she was no longer touching him.

“Our sons are perfect, and you are still beautiful.” The shock broke Loki’s concentration and the blue retreated back from his creamy skin. “Remember what state you were in when I first laid eyes on you Loki. Half mad with betrayal, exhaustion…how cruelly they had treated you, for so long… you are not a monster….” She pulled him down into a kiss, sucking at the non-existent scars around his mouth as his hands wrapped around her waist to steady the both of them. She pressed herself against him, jutting her hips forward so he knew she would still have him. “Tales of the deeds of gods and men scared me as a child. I know nothing of these monsters of which you speak.”

Loki could have wept, but he still had to think of his sons. Sigyn was pulled against his chest and he planted kisses onto her hair and neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I would have gone mad if... This is so much to ask of you, but if Asgard knows what I am, that I am the old enemy…It will be worse for Narfi and Vali when they grow up. Who would let their daughter marry a half Nymph, half Jotun? How could Thor give them a title worthy of their position without revolt?” Loki gave a hollow laugh, “They are not even real princes...Father has fallen into the Odinsleep, everything is in the air and no-one is on the throne to reign in this situation. I will go to Mother, she is wise and will know what to do…until then please go with the boys to Midgard so I know you are all safe.”

 He felt Sigyn sigh against him, she was not happy leaving him when everything was sat on a knife edge, but the boys could not find out this way. Strong hands slipped underneath his coat and tangled into the back of his tunic. “If anything happens, anything, send me word. Not for my sanity but so your mind pauses before you act.” “

If anything goes wrong I will.” Sigyn went to reply, no doubt to enforce the ‘anything’ part of her request, but was interrupted by Vali’s gentle voice from the door.

“What’s wrong?” his green eyes were wide and luminous, full of worry. Asgard revelled in the strength, loud battle cry, and the graceful skill of his fighting talent; comparing him to Thor, to Odin, to the First Father. He was more than them though; he was clever like his Father and had his Mother’s kindness. He would make the perfect King if allowed.

“I worried your Mother when I went with your Uncle to Jotunheim. The King is very angry with him…she does not want to leave me.” Loki declared, never letting go of Sigyn. Vali crossed the room, dropping his travelling bag to the floor with a clang of objects he probably should not be taking from the palace.

“If you are to be in trouble Father, then… I would stay here with you, Narfi would as well, because when we…I am in trouble you are always there with us. Even if you are to be locked up in chains we would be with you. It’s what sons do for fathers they love!”


	11. Slanderer and Cheat of the Gods

  _Almost as soon as Loki and Sigyn had faded into nothing Tony and Bruce leapt onto the computers and started wildly running a search for Loki’s magic signature. Whoever 'Sigyn' had been had allowed them to scan it when she first came onto the ship. It was a desperate attempt, neither Sigyn or Loki would be fool enough to give SHEILD the real notes of his magic but it was all they could do. Fury and Natasha were shouting down phones to try and locate the missing agents and Barton took over steering the Helicarrier while Thor sat with Steve as he vomited his guts up onto the floor._

_Six hours into the running of the scan for the magic signature global finances went into meltdown. Computer systems at the big banks crashed and re-booted with half the world's money missing. While on a conference call to Pepper and his accountant trying to figure out how much Stark Enterprises had lost, it hit Tony like a freight train. The notes of the magic SHEILD had been pinging around the globe for nearly a day now had been an encrypted binary code for a computer virus that they had watched slowly, silently, infect all financial systems. The programme was wiped at once while Tony sat alone with his scotch; he had lost a token amount of money compared to others. Loki was toying with him and he hated it._

_Ontop of the chaos of trying to loacate half the worlds money, SHEILD had to find fifty-one missing Agents. Loki had deposited a large number of them in North Korea; Natasha and Clint were dispatched to to break them out._

_The Council was on the comms every day demanding to know what Fury was doing about this ultimatum._

_On top of all this, things started to get a little odd. An angel had appeared in South Africa and had wiped out the riot of diseases in several town-ships. Doctors were baffled. The Council were hysterical at the appearance of another ‘freak’ at a time like this. It knocked an amalgimation of the investmant banking sector that would boost all economies right off the head-lines._

_Through the shaky video footage and bright light they caught the red hair and silvery eyes of Sigyn. She appeared in several hospitals around the world, curing people of Cancer, AIDs, and dementia. Then, she disappeared. Religious fervour exploded all over the world. The Abrahamic faiths were claiming this was proof of God’s existence, Scientology claimed it was one of their alien ancestors, Hindu's Dhanvantari, Pagan's a variety of goddess who were ultimately the same person. Atheists claimed it was another one of those mutants._

_Earth had more important things to panic about that unknown descisions taking place on far off planets that would descide its future._

* * *

 

 

_The Ettins of Svartleheim knew an Olympian god when they saw one. Flowers grew beneath her feet as she approached their King, the fragrant smell of insence radiated from her as he stood to greet her._

_She called the head of the Dwarfish tribes to her; they were awed by the purity and richness of craftsmanship of the gold that adorned every inch of her. She offered to banish the sickness the Ettins had caught from the Dwarfs and heal the Dwarfs from the effects of smoke and fire in return for a peace between each race and herself. If either caused hostilities to any other race or realm, Olympus would annihilate the treaty-breaker._

_Zeus, she claimed, wished for harmony._

_Niflheim was rid of the Light-elf set to rule it, the fire of Muspelheim the Aesir had put out after the war was relit, Alfheim’s live-stock was cured of the disease that was rotting them from the inside and Jotunheim was partially-restored with the heart of a Light-Elf set at its core._

_The Nine-realms were all tied to this Olympian before the Allfather even had word of her movements. Thor was ordered to Niflheim to demand justice for the dead Light-Elf that so many years ago Asgard had set to rule it. He was shown the happiness of the dramatic countryside and the reformed systems bought about by the change of rule. He was then shown the treaty they had signed with the Olympian by the new King before being told Asgardian justice had no place in her realm anymore_

_“I always told the Allfather to tie these places to Asgard by treaties. He always claimed they would be tied to Asgard by our good rule, ‘Loyalty is greater than any document Loki’, the old fool would say to me.” Loki growled as he looked over the palace of the King of Vanaheim that sprawled beneath their window._

_He was broken out of his reverie by Sigyn’s delicate laugh. “Loyalty of a whole realm of mixed up races? Nine of them?” Loki looked over his shoulder to smile at her as she ran the back of her hand down his cheek, the coolness of her gold plated nails leaving a trail on his nerves. “I know the workings of loyalty. It is a wonder he remained in power for so long.”_

_Loki’s mind had for so long been full of half formed ideas, imagined events, dark voices and screaming; the last moment of clarity he had was when Thanos had been thrown back across the universe all those years ago. The disjoined insanity of before had been burned away by_ _an eternity in agony, staring up at either a snake, the underside of a bowl, or Sigyn._ _A need for revenge, at any cost, for his sons, for him, consumed him now. He knew now his destiny did not depened on his sanity._

_No mortal could have survived the mental and physical torture of being in that cave. The mortal part of Sigyn, inherited from her pitiable paternal grandmother, had died when the blood of her sons had congealed across her face. Her Olympian ancestry had taken over, had kept her alive at the cost of her humanity. “We should have killed the old fool in his Odinsleep while we still lived in Asgard.” Sigyn said cooly from her book box. Loki quite liked the harshness Sigyn had gained from the empowered Olympian part of her, but he did, somewhere deep down, miss her gentleness. It was something he had held onto when the world inside him was full of screaming, had kept him alive while being slowly eaten by poison._

_“Are you mourning for my humanity again, my dear husband?” Sigyn laughted, the most lovely thing Loki had ever seen._

_“Their soldier, Rodgers. He know’s what its like to be weak and derogated for being so. I wish you had not done such a thing to him…”_

_“I made an example on your behalf. Be grateful!”_

_“If I had wanted an example made I would have done so with my own hands. You simply made me look weak.”_

_"Failure to exert your strength makes you weak. You do not act…!”_

_Loki whirled around and had Sigyn off the ground by her throat before she could retaliate. “I do not act? Without me you would have been passed around from man to man until you ended your pathetic, meaningless little life yourself. You owe all you are to my action!”_

_Sigyn snarled at him as she grabbed his arm, the pain making him drop her. “Shall I fall to the floor and thank you for making me a half-mad, heartless, animal like you?”_

_“You can thank your father for that. He did nothing to prevent or avenge what spirits and men did to you.”_

_Sigyn caught the shadow of Eir in the doorway and shook her head to dismiss the maid as she squared upto Loki._

_The woman hesitated but staid put._ _She had seen to much to be scared of Sigyn and Loki's fights._ _When news had broke of Balder’s death and the disappearance of Loki’s family, Kenna had begged her Valkyrie family to take Sigyn’s maids to their mistress, eradicating their path from the universe so the Allfather could not track them._

_It had worked, for a time._

_“Eir, what is it?” Loki growled, not taking his eyes off Sigyn._

_“My, Lord, the Vanir King wishes for your presence. I believe they have located Hela.”_

_Loki broke eye contact with Sigyn, all argument forgotten, and took a deep, calming breath. He should not become too hopeful that they had found his little girl._


	12. Contriver of Balder's Death

“Sweetheart please, it will do you good to be in joyous company.”

“Mother, I cannot. I fear my mood will make the company less joyous, and the whole of Asgard will go to bed full of sighs and dark thoughts.”

Frigga ran a hand over the back of Sigyn’s head as she followed her daughter-in-law’s icy gaze to what remained of the Bifrost. “That is the fifth time you have said that to me this month.”

“Then five times this month I have not been as happy as the rest of Asgard.”

“Will you not come to greet Balder? You yourself have admitted to missing him while he was in Liossalheim. Your boys have missed him also. It would be good for them for you to make an appearance. It worries them that you do not attend these official feasts.”

“My sons understand.”

“I have bought up three sons; I know how hard it is. I know how much they must miss their father, I miss him too…”

“Three boys, Lady Frigga, two were your sons. You have lost a pet, nothing more.”

Frigga was a Queen, wife of the Allfather. She should have slapped the words back into Sigyn’s mouth and the impertinence from her eyes. She was also wise and kind, she knew there was an infinite amount of violence and anger stored up in Sigyn and it was taking her all to keep it in. No-one knew how much magic Loki had given her before… “I will see you tomorrow Sigyn. Give my love to Narfi and Vali when they return.”

Sigyn’s face softened and she nodded distractedly as she looked back out from the Balcony at the misty stars that surrounded Asgard.

  Months had gone by on Earth with no word from Loki, Sigyn would not let herself worry, although her Father’s face grew grimmer by the week. Olympians and Asgardians had never got along, one thinking the other cruel and childish, the other overconfident and egotistical.For Sigyn’s sake Apollo had asked Iris* to travel on the Bifrost to find out where Loki was; he had looked genuinely shocked when she reported that it was gone, broken, all links to Asgard severed. Sigyn had been in a panicked daze for weeks, her grand-uncle Dionysus’ power to alleviate such worries was the only thing preventing her breaking completely.

 Years went by before Balder turned up at Delphi, looking as shocked as the rest of them that he had managed to travel to Earth. He had explained to his nephews that Loki had fallen off the Bifrost when it was destroyed and had watched broken-heartedly as Sigyn and her Olympian family comforted their desolate weeping. Later on he told Sigyn what Loki had tried to do to Jotunheim and Thor, and later to Earth. As he held his sister-in-law tightly to him to prevent her hurting herself further in her violent, very Olympian, grief he told her that Loki was believed dead.

 A sound of a throat clearing broke Sigyn from her thoughts with a jolt. Balder stood awkwardly at the door to her chambers, looking like he was ready to either tame a lion or greet a kitten. “May I sit with you a while, Sigyn?” She nodded and motioned to the high backed chair next to her that Frigga had vacated…not that long ago judging by the movement of the stars.

“How was Liossalheim?”

“Full of vænn and hot air, like being at home really.” Sigyn gave a half hearted chuckle and found her gaze returning to the ruined Bifrost. “Have you been to the end of it yet?” Balder asked, following Sigyn’s gaze to the broken Rainbow-bridge.

“Frigga won’t even allow me to go to the shore for fear of me drowning myself; the peace of the ocean is something I crave more now than ever…Not that I would wish to spend any time in Heimdall’s company.”

“He did what he thought was right.”

“He allowed them to go to Jotunheim for his pride. He had failed at his job and so allowed the princes to go to their deaths. His misjudgement wrecked everything.” Apollo had told her, in his capacity as prophet of the Olympians, who Heimdal was fated to kill and be killed by. She hated that she could not slit his throat.

 Balder cleared his throat and desperately tried to stear the conversation from less dangerous territory .“Narfi and Vali look well.”

 “I am glad to hear you say so. Although Narfi did beat a lad quite badly on the training field for saying he was lesser than his brother. That is expected if Odin only wants to adopt one of them. He showed he is not all kind words and smiles, I was very proud of him.”

“They are fine, loyal, good young men. You should be proud of yourself for bringing them back to themselves when nothing else will be the same.” Sigyn looked over Balder’s downcast face and rested her hand on his; he was the youngest son of Odin and Frigga, Loki was closer in age to him than to Thor. He missed his older brother greatly.

“Grief does not suit you, my dear.” She said gently, smiling as he glanced up at her.

“Nothing but serenity suits me. It is the problem with being of joy and goodness.” He grasped her hand gently and sat forward in his chair, beautiful dark blue eyes pinning Sigyn’s gaze on him and not the Bifrost. “This grief does not suit you either. You should be singing as you dance around the gardens in the spring or doting over the latest child to be injured on the training ground or sitting at Frigga’s side enjoying the banquet.”

 “I came here for the love of my sons ; everything I see, I touch…when I catch his scent that’s been trapped in the furs on our bed…I am being constantly stabbed in the gut by this place.”

“Let me take your mind away from these reminders. Come to the banquet, even for a short while, please?” He let loose his stunning dimpled grin and Sigyn found herself smiling back. “It would bring great pleasure…”

“To Odin and Frigga.” Balder winced at the speed at which the smile dropped off Sigyn’s face, eyes suddenly hard. He pushed his white blonde hair off his face before clasping Sigyn’s hand in both of his larger ones. “It would bring me great pleasure.” He corrected softly. Sigyn looked between him and the Bifrost several times, each time she looked back at Balder she looked more and more distressed as she stuttered out a reply.

 “I…want to come with you. I should…need a moment where...pleasure…Balder…how can I? You cannot put yourself…people will…no, no. I cannot go. Skadi will be there and Sif also and they will be smug. I hate them, I hate them. Balder I cannot.” She wiped at her tears with her free hand before leaning forward and resting it on Balder’s strong jaw. “ I am loyal to Loki, even in this small act. I know Odin would have us marry so Narfi and Vali may remain legitimate heirs, Frigga so the boys have a father. I know you have Nanna who you love and will marry," She burned her face in her hands "that is why such talk angers me so, they would ruin your life because of what we were.”

“Please Sigyn, whoever questions your loyalty would be a fool. If you arrived as my company for the evening could you imagine Skadi and Sif’s faces? How annoyed they would be to see Loki’s widow is still strong and not faded away by her grief, which is what is happening. Having your loyalty is a prize beyond the throne of Asgard, but what good is that prize to Loki if you fade to nothing? The Sigyn I know would rather burn than fade." Sigyn sat up to look at him, expression odd. "Besides, Nanna admires you. She will not mind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *She was the messenger of the goddess Hera who was also goddess of the Rainbow.


	13. Such peace as he might purchase

_Tony Stark, no surprise to anyone, was lent at the bar surrounded by a few dignitaries and celebrities when a murmur ran through the guests to announce the arrival of someone impressive._

_“It’s probably William and Kate, I’ll get around to them in a minute.” Tony quipped as the group around him peered over towards the entrance of the grand-ball room; they all chuckled but he only had half of their attention. Not that he minded, he was Tony Stark after all; he permanently had people’s attention. He would stay until the speeches and then slip out, leaving a large cheque with Amnesty so he could go back to The States and tinker with his armour. Loki’s ultimatum was breathing down their necks while Thor had disappeared back to Asgard and did not seem to be returning anytime soon. He hoped the ‘god’ would be noble enough to not leave Earth to burn without an apology._

_Tony had turned back to the bar to buy some more drinks when an excited chatter spread closer to him, he added a couple more drinks to the order and smiled to himself when he heard his group begin to gush. He turned, champagne in hand and very nearly dropped it when he saw that face smiling charmingly at him, no hint of recognition in those green eyes that weren’t sparking like they usually did. Was it even…the immaculately tailored Armani suit and crisp dark green shirt with a black tie flecked with gold was certainly his elegantly conspicuous style._ _“Sorry Mr. Stark, did I startle you?” That soft, deep voice was definitely Loki._

_He could feel the expectant eyes of others on him and forced a smile onto his stunned face._

_'C’mon Tony, concentrate. Don’t provoke him'. “You did for a moment my friend, you look a lot like someone I know.” He handed the glass over to Loki and used his free hand to shake the god’s, surprised that no burning sensation flew up his arm or that he was not in agony from Loki breaking the bones in his hand._

_“This is Andrew Jasper, he owns…”_

_“The elusive Mr. Jasper who basically took over the investment banking sector in less than a year?” Tony interrupted the introduction. If this was really Andrew Jasper, then Loki had taken control of all the investments of and in Stark Industries, not to mention every company that traded across the world, while SHEILD had been concentraitong on Sigyn and the missing Agents._

_'Why haven’t you bankrupted me, Popsicle?' “I’ve been working my ass off trying to find you.” Tony raised his glass to Loki who smiled knowingly and clinked his glass to Tony’s._

_“It seems like your effort was in vain as I have found you, Stark.” Tony did not know if the threat in Loki’s voice was real or just how the god spoke. “I am sorry to foil your search yet again, but I have to cut this conversation short Mr. Stark, Gentlemen, Lady; I have a few more people to meet before we have to get the cheque books out.” He smiled as a hand appeared on his forearm and he made room for Sigyn to slip in beside him. “If you’ve all heard of me you’ve probably heard my lovely wife mentioned…”  Now knowing that Sigyn could have been Loki made Tony very glad he had put the play-boy part of his life behind him. The real Sigyn he had glimpsed six months ago had been all raw power and venom but he supposed being Loki for even a few days would affect a person. This Sigyn before him was like the one he had known as a friend, the one who had probably been Loki. The cascade of red hair falling over one shoulder, her damitdon’tstareinfrontofLoki curves, her smile warm and wide, and the contrast of her natural light tan and bright silver eyes screamed other-worldly sensuality._

_Sigyn graciously took the offered drink of champagne from Tony, letting her eyes flutter closed as Loki gave her cheek a goodbye kiss and with a ’Buona Sera’ Tony found himself alone with the very powerful and very unpredictable god of Mischief’s wife. 'Well, may as well die wearing Prada.' Tony thought as he knocked back the rest of his champagne._

_“You look well Tony.” Sigyn said gently, Tony catching something in her voice that reminded him of the Sigyn he had laughed at Director Fury with. Had that person ever been the real Sigyn? Who the hell was the real Sigyn? He was tempted to take the bottle of whiskey from the barman and down it; he had too much on his mind to deal with this. “I don’t think I’ve made a man look so puzzled in my whole life. That arc-reactor is affecting your intelligence, dear.”_

_“I bet you guys had hours of fun when you learnt to shape shift into a guy.” Tony never liked being on the back foot, verbal attack was his only means of defence without his suit._

_Sigyn gave him a blank stare for a moment before raising a curving eyebrow and smiling wickedly. “Loki’s female form would turn even you into a boy losing yourself into your underwear. Not that you’re far from it normally…” She said innocently before motioning with her head towards the veranda and strolled off through the crowded room._

_Tony glared at her back as she prowled through the crowd before jogging after her. “You two confuse the hell outta me.” Tony huffed and Sigyn laughed, clear and loud and musical. That was new._

_“Rather the point isn’t it? How horrifically dull would Super-heroics be if we didn’t challenge you.” Tony had a sharp come-back to that, he always did, but he let it die in his throat. If it was easy, then he would get bored and treat it like he treated his life before he got a handful of shrapnel in his heart. Sigyn gave him a knowing look as she sipped her champagne before glancing back at the crowd inside the picturesque Italian Castle. “How on earth do you attend these things regularly?”_

_“Why did you bother putting so much effort into taking over the financial hub of the world?” Tony asked, leaning back on the ornate metal railing._

_“I? Loki did the taking over; I cleaned up and kept people happy.”_

_“Alright, you’re going to destroy the Earth, why gain control of the global economy?” He made a wide gesture with his glass before tipping it pointedly at Sigyn. “Why bring out the intelligent plan now?”_

_“You seem awfully sure it’s the Earth that will burn?” Of course Loki’s wife would perceive every syllable that was spoken._

_Tony laughed, “You think Asgard will sacrifice itself? Don’t be ridiculous; no-one would allow their civilisation to be destroyed.”_

_Sigyn cocked an eyebrow and moved to lean next to him, the warmth of her skin seeping through his suit to sooth the adrenaline that was coursing through him. “You haven’t called the rest of the Avengers?” She said quietly._

_“What’s the point, all these people will get in the way and die.”_

_“Good, I thought you had given up.”_

_“Was it the fact you are so like him that he married you or did he just mould you into his delightfully catty self?”_

_“We were not this way when we met. I was said to be a good influence on Loki. You see the marks of rage and pain and loneliness on us both… you know it because it marks you also.” Tony lent back slightly to look at her in the face. It was not the first time since the revelation about the fate of Loki’s children that he had thought, on this occasion, that this was not simple good versus evil situation._

_“I’m sorry.” Sigyn glanced over at him, glass balanced daintily between her fingers. “For what happened to you, and him…and your kids.” Her expression remained blank for a long moment. Suddenly her perfect posture straightened and her intake of breath was hardly audible. Her eye lids wavered, betraying the tears that wanted to come, before she squeezed them shut._

_“Thank you.” They sat in silence for a while, Sigyn quickly recovering herself._

_“You don’t have to do this you know. We can set diplomatic talks in motion, we can…”_

_“_ _I pleaded for democracy from the Allfather, all I got was two dead sons and a half-dead husband. All that will gain is words. Words were enough to heal my wounds once, now only action will give me peace from this constant…I have lost myself to it!”_

_“No-one is too lost.”_

_“Loki came to earth as a woman once, purely to show that he could. He found a man who he loved and loved him, they married, he had three good children and when Odin found him he dragged Loki back to Asgard and had Loki’s family murdered because, Tony, being a woman when you could be a man is shameful to the Aesir. They do the same again with my children, hoping to tame Loki.” Tony had to stifle a laugh at the futility of even considering that. “Would you say they do not deserve some punishment? Some dent to their smothering pride? Or is it simply because we have pulled your precious planet into this?”_

_He prayed earth was a decoy to get at Asgard because he did not want to be the one standing in the way of Sigyn and Loki on this one. But he would have to be._

_“He’ll end up killing you, you know that? “ He pointed at the ivy covered, horrifically idyllic castle with his glass to indicate who they were talking about._ _“He’s too powerful for himself.”_

_“Just as you are too powerful for dear Pepper.”_

_“I’d prefer it if you didn’t act like you were friends with her once.”_

_Sigyn’s warm hand rested on his arm as her gentle breath brushed his skin. “Send my love to her, will you.”_

_Tony turned to her but she was already disappearing back into the castle._


	14. Nigh Slain was Loptr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning : swearing and marital relations!

Three years had passed since her return to Asgard and Sigyn lay in the dark of Breidablik, furs tangled around her legs as she stared up at the canopy of her bed, listening to the soothing hum of the waterfall in the centre of the Balder’s palace. Something had woken her with a start.

Balder had taken them into his hall to escape the oppressive atmosphere that surrounded Loki’s family at court; whether it was Tyr and Sif’s dark looks or Skadi’s words sent to draw blood, or the other noble boys mocking Narfi for his red eyes and not being as good as his brother or Vali being made to choose between what Odin wanted of him and what his mother encouraged in him.

 The look of disappointment on Odin’s face when Vali announced he was leaving with his mother and twin haunted Sigyn still. Neither of her boys had an ounce of Asgardian blood in them; she knew it, Heimdall knew it, Frigga knew it, Odin knew it and now most of Asgard knew it. Asgard ran on blood loyalty and without that Odin had wanted to keep who he saw as the most powerful of Loki’s sons close to him; Sigyn was not trusted and to choose her side left all their futures in Asgard hanging on a knife edge.

 Balder had sensed the impending fallout and had whisked them away. The court settled down, thinking that Sigyn would be loyal to whoever shared her bed, and who was more loyal to Asgard than Balder the Perfect?

  She snarled into the darkness at how little they all still thought of her and rolled onto her side to look over the last remaining bit of Loki within her grasp; his ceremonial armour before the model Odin commissioned for Thor’s ‘coronation’. It was laid out on its stand as it had done every night they had been married, the star-light reflected in the intricate panels of gold plated iron. Her fingertips just brushed a gauntlet as she reached out to it.

She caught the fragrant smell of Lillies on the air.

No, no it was Ozone. Narfi and Vali were probably dabbling in magic while the palace was asleep.

 Balder should have been back from Thor’s hall by now; he always looked into her rooms before retiring for the night, mostly making sure she was not crying her heart out. She had not done that for years. Sigyn closed her eyes tight and tangled her legs further into the furs.

 He was probably drinking with the other warriors and playing that ridiculous game where they used all their weapons against him to marvel that he could not be harmed. She would be sure to let her sons practice right under Balder’s window tomorrow. Sigyn smiled to herself before letting a chuckle escape, Loki would have dragged himself out of bed before the servants rose to annoy his brothers.

“I am sorry.”

She scrambled to sit upright, heart thundering in her ears as she tried to look into the corners of the room through the darkness.

Was she dreaming? She had been nowhere near sleep.

Was she going mad? Hearing voices…the Furies* had finally caught up with her. She would not blame herself for going mad.

“I am so sorry.”

Sigyn choked, too terrified to scream. Grabbing at her scalp tightly she began to rock slowly, the Furies had come to punish her for not staying by her husband’s side all that time ago. She knew she was a bad wife, despite what Loki had said. Now she would be a bad mother and leave her sons to Asgard’s mercy. “Oh father, what have I done with the life you gifted me?” She moaned as the soft voice spoke again, this time closer.

“I wanted you to be happy, you deserve it…but I am selfish and could not see him have you.” A hand carded through Sigyn’s hair and she flung herself across the bed, fighting off the furs to tumble gracelessly out on the hard floor on the other side of the bed. She hauled herself to her feet and stood panting, looking hard at the shadowy figure stood across the bed from her.

“Do not think that because I am a Nymph that I can’t break your bones! How dare you sneak into my chambers and speak of the loss of my husband. If I don’t kill you my sons will, mark these words!” She hissed, preparing herself for a fight.

 The figure laughed softly “To think I worried that Balder would have tamed you.” Sigyn nearly stumbled where she stood with the force of her realisation, the laugh finally slotting the voice and familiar outline into place. “Who else could sneak in un…”

 

 Sigyn had leapt across the bed and hauled him into the half light. His hair was longer, he was so thin, his eyes were…feral and hard and completely insane but it was Loki. Sigyn collapsed into him and gripped onto the back of his leather coat as if her sanity depended on it; too bewildered to weep, too happy to faint. “You bastard, you bastard, you bastard…how long have you been able to get into Asgard?”

“A year…”

“Why did you not come to me sooner?”

“I did not know you were here. I though you were on Midgard… I was told you were trapped there every time I have been here."  Loki ached at the sight of her again, still passionate and beautiful; he knew he should not have come, "I want to free you from any obligation you felt towards me.”

 Sigyn stiffened against him and stepped back as if burned, a suffocating feeling of desertion creeping through her. “Am I to understand I am not wanted anymore? That I am to no longer have the honour of being your wife?” She was shaking, tears falling freely down her face and she gripped onto his old armour stand for support. Loki had been surprised to see a reminder of him in what he assumed was now Balder’s marriage chambers, Sigyn’s near hysteria at what he thought would be happy news for her shocked him into momentary silence.

 “I am a monster, Sigyn, that was abandoned by the monsters that begat him. I am an abomination, I should not live. I thought you would be glad to be free of me.”

 Sigyn’s disbelieving face would have been comical if not for her sobs. “I told you I did not care. Five years I thought you dead because you did not believe me! Was I not sincere enough? Did I not show you how much I…I…”

“You are to marry Balder, you live with him!”

“Where did you hear I was to marry him?”

“The Dark Elves received the news as an announcement from Asgard.”

 

“No! He married... how could you think I would?”

 

“You are at Asgards’ mercy. Anyone would bend under their pressure.”

 

“My body is not to bend to Odin’s whim; it is not even at your mercy. I will do with it what I want, when I want and how I want. If I wished to wed Balder even you would have no say, you are dead! I will even deny you access to my bed and have every right to do so, you fucking left me! I told you I would never abandon you and you did just that, left me in pain and you swore you would never cause me any.” Sigyn’s knees gave out and she sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, “I live in Balder’s hall to save our sons from the Aesir, even though _they_ simply think me his whore. I try so hard to be loyal to you and Balder is the only one who will let me, the only one who understands.”

 

 Loki dropped to his knees between her legs and buried his head into her soft, warm breast, wrapping his arms around her body like a child as a hand fell to stroke through his hair. He held on tight, and for the first time in years he stopped falling.

 

He needed her to want to be his wife again. She was his; his wife, his lover, his ally, his only friend.

 

His.

 

Only his.

 

The news that she would remarry had enraged him, he would kill Balder and watch her suffer this time. Make her grieve properly for the monster she claimed to love. He had been wrong; he could be when he was angry.

 

Knowing that she still cared him made him even more desperate. Weaknesses should be kept close, away from others. Love was the greatest weakness in the nine-realms.

 

He would carve his name onto her bones.

 

He turned his face to lean his cheek on her soft night dress, sliding his hands around her body so they rested on her thighs. “You’re the only person in the nine realms who loves me who does not have to, that’s so much more that I have ever deserved.”

 

 Several expressions crossed Sigyn’s face, the last being a surprised gasp as Loki pushed her back down to lay on the bed. He followed her down so he was half on top of her, easing her legs further apart, a cool hand slipping up her thighs and between her legs to find her warmth. “I am so sorry I left you alone.” He softly kissed the side of her breast through the linen of her night-dress as a delightful blush spread up to her neck, her breathing becoming faster. “I know I take a liberty with you now…” He kissed and bit at her collar bone before nuzzling into her luscious hair, free hand gripping onto her thigh as he worked his fingers in faster, deeper “…but I have not been an attentive husband of late.” She suddenly grabbed him, a hand gripping onto his strong upper arm and the other tugged at his hair so she could bury her face in his neck to muffle her gasping moans “I have missed you. By the Runes I have ached for you.” She began to rock against him gently, Loki using all his control to not give into her soft, breathy pleas for him to take her. “I will not allow myself to take any pleasure from you until I have earnt your forgiveness.” Sigyn’s whine of protest was overtaken by her body shuddering out a half moan that was swallowed up by Loki’s neck.

 

  He held onto her as her breathing evened out, allowing her warmth, her complete surrender to only him to sink into his bones. “Where have you been?” she whispered into the darkness.

 

  “Niflheim, Muspelheim, Svartalheim and…dark places I am glad you did not see me in.”

 

 “Where will we go now? Can you get us all out? If not take the boys.”

 

 “Why?”

 

 “Odin has not learnt; he try’s to create another Thor in Vali.”

 

Loki nearly growled as he stood up and hovered momentarily, “Will he succeed?”

 

“Vali is your son even thought Odin now calls him his.”

 

Loki nodded and started pacing. “I can transport us all to Vanaheim, they have not been fond of Asgard since they were humiliated after the war. We will have secrecy and sanctuary there, no matter what Asgard says to them.”

 

“Why would they search for us?”

 

 

“I have killed Balder.” Sigyn gaped up at him, “I thought you had married him!”

 

“Is that what you meant... tonight? You killed him tonight?” Sigyn cried out in horror.

 

“No, Holdur will do it tonight. I have given him an arrow of Mistletoe for when they play that stupid drunken…"

 

"Stop it if you are not too late!”

 

 There was a loud crash and the doors flew open, the room bursting to harsh light and Loki went tumbling through the air to crash into the wall, an invisible force dragging him off the ground. Sigyn did not have time to scream as arms wrapped around her, holding her in place when she tried to scramble over to Loki. As she struggled she saw a blue shape move across the room towards Loki and yelled out in panic.

 

 “Mother, mother it’s alright we are here. No-one will hurt you; no-one will hurt you!”

 

  Sigyn paused her struggles to look up into Narfi’s concerned red orbs as she realised Vali was speaking. “…widow does not make her unable to resist you!” He was still in his blue nightshirt but that did nothing to dissipate the threat and rage quivering through every muscle of his broad form. 

 

“VALI!” Sigyn shouted when she saw the scabbard gripped in his hand, but her son waved her down.

 

“I am sorry mother, but you will not be treated like this.” Vali declared, signalling to Narfi to let their mother go before drawing his sword.

 

“No, Vali! Narfi let him down…” Loki waved his hand and with a clatter of a dropped scabbard both of them were suddenly upside down in mid-air fighting to keep their nightshirts covering themselves.

 

“Mother, run!”

 

“Vali, it’s Poppa.”

 

“Narfi, do something! You know magic as well as Father did.”

 

“I am no match for him.” Vali stopped struggling, the dull clang of his sword falling to the floor the only sound apart from the humming waterfall, and gaped at the tall, pale form that had landed so gracefully just in front of him, holding them in the air with a thought.

 

 Sigyn appeared at his side, holding his hand tightly as she spoke to them. “This is your father, I know for sure it is. He has finally found a way to travel across the nine realms; he’s let us know he is alive. We can go with him to Vanaheim if you wish.”

 

  Narfi had not cried since he was told his father was dead, nothing would ever be as horrific as that moment. Even upside down, his face pale and gaunt, his eyes darker, and even though he remembered him as being taller it was still the same man who watched him leave for Earth all those years ago. He began to weap as Loki turned them both up the right way and lowered them carefully to the ground.

 

  He crossed the short distance and tripped into his fathers chest, letting the tears come in earnest as familiar strong arms encircled him and the familiar smell and strength of his Poppa enveloped him. “I have worried for your Narfi…” an arm released him and he felt the comforting solidness of his brother barrel into the both of them, “I have missed you both, my fine young men.” Being away from Sigyn had been torture, but being away from his sons as they grew had been agony.

 

 “Mother, come. Poppa will take us to Vanaheim.” Nafi said in a voice heavy with emotion as he held a hand out to Sigyn who stood by the bed, tears streaming down her face.

 

 “Loki, take them. I will stay.”

 

Loki raised his head to look her straight in the eye.

 

“What do you mean? Mother?”

 

“Asgard will have someone to punish, our sons will be safe. You will be safe. Take them.”

 

“Why must someone be punished? What has happened?” Vali asked, looking between his parents who were giving nothing away in there expressions’. “Mother? Poppa?”

 

“They are angry at what your Father did to the Bifrost, to Jotunheim, to earth. He will not be free until they find someone to punish. You boys will be safe and away from Asgard…”

 

Loki cut her off mid-lie. He would have his sons ignorant of everything to protect them but they were young men now, nearly as old as he was when he had Sleipnir, their choices were there own. “I am a Jotun, abandoned as a runt. Odin found me after he had slaughtered hundreds of my kin. When I found out I tried to destroy Jotunheim but Thor prevented me. I received word that Balder was to marry your mother; I have caused the means of his impending death. This is why your mother is offering to stay.”

 

 “No!” Narfi shouted, pulling himself out of his fathers embrace. Vali buried himself further into Loki’s arms; it was all too much for him. Loki squeezed his eyes shut to hide his pain; of all the people that would reject him he never thought it would be his little Rune Reader. The baby who would only fall asleep in the crook of his arm, who had given Loki his first smile and laugh; he loved both of these boys with all his heart, but Narfi was the one who was less tainted by Asgard. “No, why are you not trying to stop it?”

 

“You came to my 'rescue' just as your father was…”

 

“I knew I was part Jotun as soon as my eyes went red. Even Vali, the next great warrior, is not like them. As much as I tried to tell myself it came from Mother I knew you…we…we're not Asgardian, Poppa.” Narfi sobbed gently, “I cannot leave Mother to face this alone.”

 

“Narfi, go with your father.”

 

“Mamma…”

 

“Go. Now.”

 

Loki gazed at the ceiling as Narfi came back to him, sobbing like the child he had left so long ago.

 

Sigyn would distract Asgard long enough for him to build an army, for him to free his other children. He would make himself respected and loved as Asgard had never done, his sons by his side to fight for him to avenge their brave, loving, untameable mother.

 

  His pride demanded he not have any weaknesses any more. He owed his pride much, without it he would not have survived all those centuries being teased and ignored by Asgardians. It was surely worth more than a woman he had stumbled upon while half mad with humiliation?

 

With a woman at his side, a beautiful woman with a kind face, a gentle manner and a vicious streak, he could gain absolute power wherever he wished. “Sigyn, thank you…but what is a family without its mother? Come.”

 

“Loki…”

 

“I have never ordered you Sigyn, do not force me to!” The sharp tone shocked Narfi and Vali, but not Sigyn. She saw the change in her husband.

 

She took his insistent hand and cradled Narfi’s head against her chest as Loki threw the teleporting stones and Asgard shuddered and warped around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The Furies - Three female spirits in Greek myth that tormented the guilty.


	15. The Son of Mothers Eight and One.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHEILD does not sit on its butt. A gentle set up for characters in the next storyline in the series. Will Tony work out the plan before it swings into its last motions?

_Thor had been grave when he finally returned from Asgard; he looked worn even for a god. Lines furrowed his once smooth brow and it seemed as if his majesty was slumping slightly. It had been a hard fight whatever he had been doing, but a glimmer of hope was there in his demeanour as the Avengers assembled around the table, the Helicarrier zooming over places unknown._

_After passing on greetings, oaths of alliance and so on and so forth from the Allfather Thor announced that the monsters Loki had created in his youth had gone missing. The great Wolf held in Asgard was vanished into thin air and the creature that was locked up in the dark of the underworld could not be seen by Heimdall. Thor reassured the spark of panic with a smile that was underlined with something strained, another of Loki’s spawn, a serpent that lived in Yiggdrisil had also vanished BUT the gate-keeper had caught a glimpse of green magic and the slide of scales in London. As Heimdall had looked harder, the vision had faded into nothingness. According to Heimdall the nothingness was too empty, magic was being used._

_Nick Fury had spread out detailed maps of the street, building and the apartment matching what Heimdal had seen._

_“Sigyn is the target for capture; we will use her as a bargaining chip with Loki to get him and his monsters to leave earth and, if luck is on our side, agree to stay away from our planet.” Thor had paled at this plan, but set his mouth firm and nodded his agreement to it, demanding that they let him tackle the monsters as it would be suicide for Midgardians._

_“Suicide for Midgardians, yeah…thanks guys.” Tony muttered to himself as he hovered outside the eighth floor of the building. Something had been moving down on the south coast and Thor had zoomed off like a lightning bolt in case it was the sea-snake monster._

_It seemed Tony had ended up in a Pirates of the Caribbean film. If Loki appeared demanding to be called ‘Captain’ and complaining about rum Tony was going to go home and leave Earth to it._

_He had told Steve of the bad feeling he had about the whole thing; who hides monsters in London? But Steve was a soldier that followed orders, he did not question them._

_“Stark, you are good to go. We’re here for back-up, signal if you need any.” Fury’s voice ordered over the head-set._

_“I think the explosion of a god of mischief and three goddamed monsters turning up will be clear enough but O.K.” Tony muttered and Jarvis turned off the intercom before this operation ended in another almighty row and Nick Fury throwing Tony in jail for a week._ _He lined up his thrusters with the wall and blasted an Iron Man-sized hole in the brick work, zooming in after the implosion to catch whatever was in there by surprise._

_Terrified screaming was not what he expected. “Jarvis, get me eyes.” Tony barked, rockets cocked on his shoulders and both thrusters raised just in case. The swirling brick dust suddenly became clear as Jarvis used the various filters and sensors to pick out the figure of a girl, about eight or nine, and a young woman, not Sigyn, sat on the wooden floor not far in front of him; they both looked horrified. “Hey, hey, kid. Calm down Ok. I’m a good guy. I’m Iron Man.” It only made the child scream again, looking even more scared than before as she scrambled into the arms of the woman who backed them both against the far wall._

_“Sir” Jarvis said urgently._

_“Oh c’mon, don’t you watch the news?”_

_“Sir, ‘magic’ readings of two males approaching quickly.” No sooner had Jarvis finished when two blurs came flying into the room. One was a guy about eighteen-nineteen years old, the other, a very muscular kid of about fifteen. They placed themselves firmly between Tony and the other two._

_“What on earth do you think you are doing!?” The elder boy asked, his voice smooth and strangely hypnotic as he stared Tony down with his pale brown eyes, almost yellow._

_If Tony did not know better… “Looking for a bad guy. Tall, pale, psychotic, usually has a Redhead on his arm?” Tony asked, taking a half step back at the hiss the eldest boy let out. “Hey, I’m sorry, cool it.”_

_The younger one was snarling at him, his wild brown hair sticking up at odd angles like it had been shocked._ _“Get out, I’ve ripped apart greater men than you Metal Man.” He growled._

_Tony powered down his rockets and lowered his hands, “Alright, alright, my mistake I’ll pay for the…wait, what?” Metal Man, what the hell? He took a longer look at the younger boy; long white teeth, oval blue eyes, slightly pointed ears. The older boy was tall and slender, his sharp, tanned face framed with golden hair flecked black. The girl peering around the leg of the woman looked ill, very ill; her black hair making her look paler…but her face was familiar. Except for the doe eyed blonde woman, all their faces were familiar._

_It hit Tony hard, literally._

_The force of the impact on the back of his head made the command screen flicker. Luckily the suit was made to withstand bomb blasts, which had the same force as being whacked over the head with a chunk of steel girder by a god. Tony jumped back; suddenly aware that he was vastly outnumbered “Shall I connect Director Fury Sir?” Jarvis asked coolly._

_“Yes Jarvis, that would be nice!” Tony shouted as the command screen flashed back into life. He was a few feet away from Loki who still had the twisted remains of the blasted girder raised like he was about knock Tony’s head off. Tony had seen Loki in battle a few times now; crackling with barely contained power, snarling furiously; eyes flashing with insanity as he beat seven types of crap out of the Avengers. Rage was nothing new, but fear was and so was…panic._

_“Do not touch my children.” Was Loki’s voice shaking? The last time they had been this close he had been the epitome of cool-calm-collected. The last time they had been this close and alone Tony had taken a trip out of a fiftieth story window. “I will rip that device from your chest in front of your woman if you even consider going near them.”_

_“…Stark, do you copy!...” Nick Fury was yelling in his ear. Tony blinked out of his shock to tell him it was a false alarm, everything was under control. Jarvis cut Fury off mid-sentence and Tony flicked the face plate up so he could look Loki in the face, the movement making the kids on the other side of the room jump, the woman shrieked._

_“Yours and Sigyn’s kids?” Tony asked, Loki gave him such a disgusted glare Tony nearly put his face plate back down, but the eldest boy answered him._

_“Sigyn is not our birth mother, but the only one we have. Asgard killed our mother when word of our existence reached them. Poppa turned us into creatures so Asgard would feel no need to kill us like they did with our human siblings.”_

_“Jormungandr! Silence!”_

_“We're helping Poppa with Midgard's money.” The girl said in a rasping voice, peering further out from behind the woman’s legs._

_“Hela!” Loki ordered, voice edged with panic._

_Tony knew those names, Thor had let them slip when he had been talking about ‘monsters’ being set free. “Let me guess,” he said, gesturing to the wild looking boy, “you’re Fenrir?” The blink of shock he got in return was enough conformation. “Loki, we were told you had let loose monsters. We acted on the information we were given, we don’t attack children on Earth.” Loki snarled in response; Tony did not expect anything else._

_“Stark, I have received word you have engaged…” Thor began on the Avengers only channel and Tony exploded._

_“CHILDREN Thor, I have engaged goddamn Children! I terrified the life out of a sick little girl, wonder-boy. I blast in here expecting a dragon and werewolf and I get kids!”_

_“Do not be deceived…”_

_“No I won’t. Frankly, from what I’ve heard about child-care in Asgard you are the last person I’m going to listen to. Jarvis, block all communications.”_

_“Sir”. The metallic voice made Loki lower his weapon slightly to peer at the suit curiously. Iron Man fought back a smile, laughing at Loki did not seem like a good idea._

_“Sigyn must have told you what I said to her in Italy. You’re a crazy bastard and I would like nothing better than to kick your ass...but kids being imprisioned is not something I will have anything to do with.” He turned to the people in question. Fenrir had stopped snarling and was watching the both of them with the analysing look of a wild animal; the woman had let Hela come out from behind her, protective hand still on her tiny shoulder. “I’m sorry I scared you, your Majesty.” Tony felt faintly ridiculous, but the girl’s face lit up, “Princesses should never be scared.”_

_Her brothers looked faintly shocked but a lot friendlier as he turned back to Loki who looked infinitely tired. “Thor will be here in a moment, despite my better judgement about letting you go...you might want to zip outta here.” Tony advised as he flipped his face plate back down and flew out of the building ready to face Fury._

_Thor claimed Loki had tricked them into seeing children instead of monsters with his magic, he innocently believed what Asgard told him. Tony was unconvinced, Bruce had looked appalled and Natasha had looked murderous._

_Fury had been, well...furious. The Earth was at stake and Loki had bought in his children into the picture._

_But, Tony told himself as dawn crept up over Malibu, the children were on Earth. No one would take over the bulk of Earth's finances and then move their children here to be safe if there was a possibility of it burning?_

_Would they?_


	16. No friends in the world shall you find.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is my own humble reworking of the Lokasenna. Some of it is direct quotes put into prose, some of it is simple inspired by the tale.

 Forty palace guards marched Loki into the oval courtroom in the depths of Asgard. Nobles, magistrates, guard commanders, warriors, gods and goddesses filled the bright galleries all facing the colossal throne of Odin that sat, much like the great hall, on top a dais of polished golden steps.

  The guards marched Loki to the centre of the room and moved to the edges, four unlucky souls stayed close to him. None was brave enough to go near him; his bright eyes were flitting around the room as if watching a drunk fly making its way through the air, an absent minded smile on his face.

  All eyes were on Loki. Sigyn received casual glances as she was lead into the room and halted a way behind Loki so they could not communicate.

 Both sets of eyes were facing forward as if the other did not exist. Sigyn’s arms and legs were bruised from where Skadi had dragged her to the Bifrost from Vanaheim’s besieged palace.

  Frigga stood at Odin’s side, as did a melancholy looking Thor. Skadi came and stood on the steps further down with her husband Njord next to her, as their rank commanded, smug look on her face. Tyr and Sif, in full armour, stalked into the centre of the room and flanked Loki, relieving the guards from their duty.

 Finally, Bragi the poet god came and stood at the foot of Odin’s dais; you could see how proud he was to be the one chosen to recite the crimes. “Odin Allfather and his house, those gods and goddesses assembled here in this glorious place you are called to hear the crimes that Loki ‘Odinson’ and his nymph ‘wife’ Sigyn Askelpiosdottar have committed.

“The wilful terrorising of Midgard and all the murders committed hence; theft of many sacred and powerful artefacts from Asgard.” Loki let out a chuckle at that, Bragi visibly bristled at the lack of respect. “The destruction of the Bi-frost, the ruination of Jotunheim, the unlawful banishment of Thor, unlicensed practitioning of seiðr…”

“I was King, nothing I did was un…” Loki was cut off by a slap around the back of the head by Tyr. Loki blinked in shock and turned his burning gaze onto the great, scarred god who ignored him.

 “First amongst your crimes was the premeditated and cowardly murder of Balder the Pure, the light of Asgard who even found kindness and love for your dark hearts in his own.” Bragi lowered his gaze from the gallery to glare at Loki who had not taken his eyes off of Tyr all this time. “For that I would gladly take thy head off and carry it away, and pay thee the price of thy lies!”

 “Silence!” Odin yelled as the courtroom began to babble at that break in decorum.

 “You spoke well, my husband!” The gentle voice of Idunn the Youthful called down from the gallery.

 Loki’s gaze shot up to look at her and he snarled out, “Be silent! The one who had her own brother’s murderer as a lover has no right to speak here!”

“HE DARES….”

 Idunn began to shriek, but Freyja cut her off with a stern shout from the lower gallery. “You will all be silent. This is the heart of Asgardian law! You will not allow his sharp wit to make it a mockery.”

 “Well said! We will not mock this spot by my words, or that a fine lady can be made of someone who sold their maidenhood for a necklace.” Loki spat, eyes now trained on her.

“Loki, your wit is failing. Be quiet.”

 Loki’s gaze snapped onto Odin and he smiled. “Of course, of course; I apologise for my knowledge. You give to him who does not deserve the gift,” his eyes flashed to Thor whose heart visibly broke further, “the baser sort gets the prize.”

“Loki, you sullied yourself by going to Midgard as a milkmaid for eight years, in which time you bore children to a mortal man! You could never be King. You shamed your manliness!”

“Says he, who in his youth travelled amongst Midgardians as a witch selling spells for your food and shelter; you shamed **your** manliness!”

“These things are well in the past.” Frigga called over the whisperings of the crowd, forcing Odin to sit back down with a hand on his arm. “Trading insults will get us nowhere, both of you shut up.”

“Oh yes, my respectful mother has spoken. Let us not bring up our past wrongs, all our slates are wiped clean to pass judgement. Like a wife who was taken as a mistress by her brothers-in-law while Father was away fighting...”

 Frigga looked down into the joyful face of Loki in horror as the court erupted into a cacophony of shouting that echoed around the enclosed space. She had thought Odin was dead; he had been gone so long and she was so alone. When Odin had returned she had told him everything and was forgiven. She had not known Loki knew.

What had happened to her bright eyed little boy to make him so spiteful?

 “You let yourself down with such cruelty, Loki. Even Balder would beat you for saying such a thing.” Frigga said gently through the noise.

 “He would,” Loki nodded earnestly as the court fell silent at Frigga’s pain, “I know he would. I deserve it. Yet, he can’t as I killed him.” He stared at Frigga blankly. She found remorse in that face, the last desperate hope of a mother to find some good in her son.

“You do shame your family…!” Freyja stood to shout, her ample bosom quivering with her rage.

“You know all about shame don’t you, who share your bed with your brother.” Loki spat, not even bothering to look at her. His gaze had already flicked to Njord the sea-god who had just taken a breath to speak.

 “You have a nerve, speaking of shame and bringing old pains into the light. You effeminate…You who dared to walk about Asgard without shame after you had opened your legs for a man to lay children in you! As a woman! You speak of shame when you fathered monsters with a giantess? When you had dealings with Svaldifari…”

 Loki chuckled. “You forget, Njord whose mother was a daughter of Hymir, that you are also a giant. I may have fathered monsters but at least I did nothing so monstrous as to lay children upon my own sister.” Tyr slapped Loki around the head again, and when he still laughed he hit him harder so he fell to the floor.

 “You cause mischief with too much ease.” Tyr dragged him to his feet with his one good hand. “I will slice your tongue to keep you silent.”

“How will you do that…? I’m just curious, since my boy Fenrir bit one of your hands off. You should watch that he does not come for the rest of you.”

 Tyr slapped Loki around the face. “The Wolf is chained down, he will not break free.”

“Oooo, you’re still angry that your wife wanted me. I admit I was wrong in not doing you the honour of having her so you could kill me for it and lessen your shame.”

 “Assembled gods!” Skadi shouted to the room, turning all attention from Loki onto her. “When Loki has finished causing mischief and chaos amongst us, we must think of his punishment. It is Asgardian law that the Allfather hear the suggested punishments of the blameless and pick which suits the crime.

 “I propose we take the murderers to the deepest icy depths of Midgard, to a cave where no magic can live. Loki will be bound to the rock with the guts of his guilty children and we shall turn Sigyn into a snake that will drip Venom into his eyes until he dies screaming for the forgiveness of all he has wronged!”

“You should be punished for thinking up such brutality!” Loki cackled.

“You deserve it, for amongst all your many crimes you also set in motion the murder of my father.”

“I think you’ll find that Thor was the one who turned Thjazi’s head to pulp.”

“I agree with Loki, the punishment is too harsh.” Sif spoke up grudgingly, purposefully not catching Loki’s eye. “I am blameless, I will give my punishment…”

“Blameless! You’re about as faithful to Thor as a bitch in heat!”

“Silence or I’ll silence you myself!” Thor ordered, finally stepping down from the stairs of Odin’s throne to face his brother.

“So brave! So brave now I am shackled; you who so bravely hid in the glove of the giant Skyrmir while I lulled him to sleep for our escape.”

“You killed our brother!”

“You can thank your father’s scheming for that!”

“I WILL SILENCE YOU! BROTHER OR NO I AM A WARRIOR OF ASGARD!” Thor bellowed, Mjolnir raised.

“I know you will.” Loki said calmly, unimpressed, “You held me down for a Dwarf to do it as you were such a cowardly warrior of Asgard.”

“You would use that against me? You know how that pained me?”

“Not as much as it pained me! You idiot! YOU GREAT RUTTING MEAD SWILLING DRITY BRAWLING BASTARD! FRIGGA IS NOT YOUR MOTHER!” Loki screamed eyes wide and glazed.

 Thor let Mjolnir drop as he punched Loki squarely on the jaw, sending him sprawling across the polished floor shrieking out a dreadful laugh of triumph to echo around the horrified court.

 Thor felt immediately ashamed and made to go to Loki but stopped in his tracks when he saw Sigyn. She was trembling, tears falling freely down her honeyed cheeks as she stared at the assembled gods in revulsion.

 The court was full of the rumbling of gods talking as Tyr dragged Loki to his feet, shaking him firmly to try and stop the manic laugher. Sif’s firm punch to his stomach finally silenced Loki.

 Odin put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. How had this happened to his little boy? How had Asgard become so… sordid?

All eyes fell on Thor now Loki was silenced, and gradually the Asgardians all followed his ashamed gaze to Sigyn.

“You cannot punish what doesn’t exist.” She whimpered, voice trembling. “There is no more Loki, he’s lost himself.”

 Odin looked up at her appalled face. “Loki has to be punished for this, Sigyn. He has used the last of my patience, he has gone too far.”

“No one can deny the horrors committed. Yet you cannot punish a madman for what a sane man has done.” She looked around the court; suddenly aware they were all looking at her, and cautiously walked across to the foot of Odin’s throne. Guards moved closer to her and she flinched, but Odin raised a hand and they drew back a pace warily. Sigyn wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her dress and dropped to her knees, raising her arms up so her palms faced the ceiling, closed fingers pointing at Odin.

“I dirty my knees as a suppliant to your mercy, Allfather. I beg of you, for the sake of the child Loki once was, that you have compassion for him now. He has driven himself out of his mind, harming him will only make it worse. Please, for all our sakes let this ruling be to cure him. A sane mind seeing what it has been done is punishment enough.”

 Odin regarded her in silence with his one eye. She was as guilty as Loki for Balder’s death. She ran away rather than warn them of the murder of the man who had treated her like a sister, who had taken her into his household even though he had a young wife; he who had always loved Loki the best, even better than his own parents.

 Odin looked up at Loki who was stood next to Tyr, a sour bruise was forming on his face as his bright eyes flitted around the room gleefully. There was no repentance in him at all, he loved that he had killed Balder.

“Allfather, to do what it begs would be a kindness beyond compare. It has complied with all the murderers schemes; it has stood by while the prince went mad. It can heal yet it did not heal the prince! It is even guiltier by its wilful compliance.” Skadi announced loudly from the steps of Odin’s throne, strong arms crossed proudly across her chest.

 Loki wanted to spring up those steps and rip at Skadi’s wildly beautiful face with his nails. Everything she said was just and true, but he would disfigure the bitch for calling Sigyn ‘it’. But Tyr was holding him tightly, so he settled for snarling at her.

  Odin stood, the tension was electric.

“Loki is a Prince of Asgard who has committed murder, he must be bound in punishment but not killed. We must not spill the blood of the insane.” Odin could not lose another son. “The men named Narfi and Vali who are in our custardy are citizens of Asgard, are accessories to murder, aided the escape of a murderer and war criminal and have fought against their own. They are traitors, not our grandchildren, and must be treated as such.”

 “They are boys who are obedient to their parents will.They are innocent, Allfather.” Sigyn remained still, head bowed, but her resonant voice rang clear over Odin’s proclamation.

Odin paused and continued, this was hard enough as it was. “Skadi, you will carry out this judgement.”

 Loki was screaming wildly as guards attempted to drag him from court, it took another blow to the face from Thor to silence him.

The Thunderer silently carried his brother from the room.

 All eyes turned to Sigyn who was still kneeling, head bowed, shaking with sobs. Skadi jogged down the steps and made to strike her but a shout from Odin stopped her. Instead Skadi strolled from the room humming a jolly tune to mock her.

 Odin slowly descended the steps and took the trembling hands that were still held out to him. He pulled Sigyn to her feet and rested his hands on her shoulders. “My dear, our law does not touch Olympians. You were brought into this by loyalty to my son; it is commendable that you are so faithful. Now you are free of this responsibility. You are free to go home with your entire dowry, with an escort your position deserves.”

“Thank you, Allfather. I ask that my maids be allowed to take my dowry back to my grandfather and take my place in his household. My place is with Loki.”

The court gasped. “Do you know what you are doing?”

 Sigyn huffed out a laugh and took a step back. “As well as you know what you are doing.” Tears no longer fell down her reddened cheeks; sobs no longer wracked her body. Those silver orbs bored into Odin‘s eye and in them he saw the rage of an ancient being, far older than he had ever thought this Nymph was.

“So be it. Take her with the guilty, she is NOT to be harmed or transformed in any way. If anyone, even Skadi, lay’s a finger on her they will be thrown to the Olympians.” The court shrank back at Odin’s anger as a guard came to Sigyn’s side and escorted her away.

 Odin turned sharply and left, shouting an order as he stormed out. “This is a dark day indeed and it will never be celebrated!”


	17. The Arm-Burden then of Sigyn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Woops, its now back in the right plot line.

  _Kenna hesitated as she met the suffocating silence of Sigyn’s chambers. It was as if all the silence in Vanaheim had gathered into that one room in its palace. Sigyn was sat at her dressing table swathed in furs despite the gentle heat of autumn, staring at herself in her mirror with wide eyes. This had become a common sight since Sigyn had spoken to The Iron Man on Midgard all those sunrises ago._

_Kenna adjusted the fine silver dress she had over her arm (Valkyries were not made to handle such delicate things) and made to enter._

_Sigyn sighed and dropped her gaze. The universe was hanging over all of them, ready to raise them higher than anyone before but threatening to rip them apart mercilessly. The plan was in motion but it all hung on Sigyn now Loki was gone._

_It hurt them all to see Sigyn so burdened; a scattering of silver had appeared in her dark red hair, her great age beginning to show in her eyes. There was nothing to be done to break her mistress out of this._

_“My Lady, is this the dress?”_

_Sigyn turned to Kenna and smiled, the wear lost under her mask of control. “Yes, thank you. Please sit.” Kenna sat on the chaise near the fire as Sigyn began to pin up her hair._

_Kenna was more of a bodyguard than a maid; she had thought it odd that she had been left with Sigyn when the other two maids had been sent to keep Loki’s children safe. The Midgardian that Sigyn had picked up was always sent away on missions for her new mistress. Kenna did not begrudge the girl despite the jobs she, a Valkyrie!, now had to do; Sigyn’s safety was her duty, no-on else’s. She knew very little about dresses and jewels and was useless at fixing her own hair, let alone someone else’s. Despite this, Kenna could tell that Sigyn was not doing the intricate plaits and loops that she put on to impress ambassadors of the Nine realms. Her hair was being controlled into a single bun at the base of her skull; the hair she had before marrying Loki; the hair of Olympian women._

_Kenna did not know whether to rage at her mistress or weep for her. How could she consider going back to them after they had ignored such abuse from man and divine? How can she have lost all fight after so short a war? This was the woman who had fought past exhaustion when Asgard came for them, a woman who had thrown away her dignity to beg for mercy; the woman who had not given Skadi the satisfaction of emotion when the goddess ensured Narfi’s blood splattered into her face!_

_“Will we need to ask for a room to be prepared for Hermes?” Kenna asked bluntly, holding Sigyn’s gaze that snapped to look at her from the mirror. A flash of anger had been there before being quelled under more complicated thoughts._

_“He knows his welcome is limited.”_

_“Yet you are most welcome on Olympus, with your treaties and titles and not forgetting that large lump of power in your grasp.”_

_“Speak to me plainly or do not speak at all.” Sigyn’s voice wavered as she snapped at Kenna, eyes beginning to glisten with emotion._

_“Freedom is everything good and true in the Nine-realms my Lady. I am responsible for your safety, and if you lose your freedom to them then I will fail in my oath to you every day they own you. I love you, so cannot silently watch you become an object again, no matter the cause. Freedom is our right!”_

_“It will be my biggest regret that I must give up the greatest thing Loki gave me.” Tears gathered in Sigyn’s eyes and she wiped at them furiously to force the emotion down. “But how else will I get justice now that he is no longer here….” A sob broke free and Sigyn put her head in her hands, her whole exhausted body vibrating with heartbroken sobs._

_Kenna sat and watched her mistress weep, un-moved by the display of emotion. The maid was part Valkyrie, she could see right into the deeply hidden glorious and un-glorious deeds of a human heart, yet before such a blatant display of desperation Sigyn had fooled Kenna completely. “Come now, Sigyn Askelpiosdottar, there is no one to witness this.”_

_The sobbing stopped almost at once, it took a moment for the heavy breathing and sniffing to die down before Sigyn straightened. Tears were still in her eyes, but the silver orbs looking at her from the mirror were imperious and calm. Sigyn had come a long way from a damaged Nymph on the edge of the world._

_“The King of Vanaheim has made you his heir! His sons died to keep you free from Asgard. Why do you need to rip Loki away from us and lose that freedom and power?”_

_“You think Asgard will allow such a thing while they rule the universe? I am little more than a convict to them. They have fallen foul of there own law and I will strip them of their grandeur for the blood that stains them.” Sigyn banged her fist onto the table. “I have the universe in the palm of my hand. All our efforts will be futile if I do not press this home by any means. Loki understands, he knows. If I do not close my hand and take the reigns, all or nothing…! We should have returned to earth and become nobody.”_

_“You are the wife of Loki. You know that being nobody is better than being a puppet of a tyrant.” Sigyn’s eyes stayed looking out at Kenna from the mirror, but her gaze was far off, her mind weaving in ways Kenna could only dream of. “Worst of all you will be alone again.”_

_“I am afeared.” Kenna raised an eyebrow at that; Sigyn looked the least afraid creature in all the realms. “Not like a dog fearing its cruel master’s beating. I fear Loki will not stay dead.”_

_“You question the unchanging progress of fate?”_

_Sigyn turned to face Kenna, all pretences fallen away so the millennia of years behind her were all present in her eyes. “No, but I know Loki. He would kill Heimdall and be killed to satisfy fate and then twist his way back into existence.”_

_“You would rather he stayed dead?”_

_“I would rather not have the hope of him tricking fate. I spent five years worrying and three knowing my sane husband was dead only for him to be brought back to me a madman! I will not do the same for my insane husband. I have lived too long for that.” Sigyn dropped her gaze as the call to the Sunrise Temple rang out over Vanaheim. “Loki does not know of my fears. I convinced him the only way for revenge was this plan; sons of Zeus exist a step ahead of reality so can enter Asgard on a whim. Asgard will not expect their involvement nor do any of you poor creatures realise their power. Loki and I could not do it ourselves, I am not proud enough to delude myself. My grandfather will only take his revenge for his great-grandsons if I have no more men to help me; it is the way of things on Olympus. That is why Loki must cease to be, why I must return to Olympian control and why I must be alone.”_

_Kenna knew a little of the emotion called love; it was not something Valkyries concerned themselves with. She could tell Loki was infatuated with his wife; Sigyn’s loyalty eclipsed anything else she might have felt for him. “…and I thought you only loved Loki as a wife loves a husband.”_

_Sigyn laughed, “Do I love him more than that?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Then I am a fool.”_

_“Yes you are. Foolish, good-hearted, brave and careless.”_

_“Careless?”_

_“You have thrown him to the winds with the only certainty that he must kill and be killed by Heimdall. You will only hear of his death after it has happened.”_

_“Everything will end soon after her dies, I will only know of it when the floods come.”_

_“You are so certain of that, the universe does not always run to the times fate would wish of it! And, if Loki does cheat death, you will be dead and there will be no painless life in the Underworld for you.”_

_“You are right.” Sigyn threw her arms in the air and swore as she collapsed back in her chair. “I must bring him back to me.”_

_“Tricking Olympians for this revenge is risking everything, my Lady, tricking them further will be suicide. I do not advise this!”_

_“Suicide? Without due planning, maybe…” she smiled suddenly as she stood. “Thank you Kenna. Your counsel, as always, is indispensable.”_


	18. Loki is beautiful and comely to look upon, evil in spirit, fickle in habit.

_A number of Asgardians were offered refugee statusby several countries when word came that they would give up their eternal realm for Earth._

_“They started all this by losing control of Loki, its only right they suffer the consequences .” Tony overheard Clint muttering to Bruce on the last day. “Yeah” Tony thought, “and we’re giving the winner of 'Messed up Realm of the Century' house-room.”_

_They would not be left alone while Asgardians lived on Earth, Loki was one of many enemies the 'gods' had made over the centuries._

_The Asgardians were deposited in the centre of the Sahara desert where no-one but half-interested Bedouin would be; Odin, Frigga, Heimdall and some of the more powerful and elder Aesir had elected to stay, “Their fate is tied into Asgard's so they must stay and suffer her judgement. They thank you, deeply and humbly, for helping us in our time of need.” Thor had declared emotionally to the assembled world leaders._

_The spectating Avengers were moved by it even though their relationship with the Thunder god had been tense as of late, he had been trying to save his home and his family from the irresistible chaos that was Loki Laufeyjarson. They werepresent in case Loki showed up to try anything; Andrew Jasper was still around being the hero of the economy but his wife was away in a retreat in Amritsar for a long time – SHEILD knew this meant they were upto something._

_As more and more Asgardians came flashing out of the Bi-frost the tension rose until it was at strangling point - Clint wanted to shoot something just to snap the tension! When Tony’s ‘magic’ sensors started going haywire and a thundering ‘whoosh’ with a dazzle of blue deposited Loki on top of the nearest dune they found themselves breathing a sigh of relief._

_“Hey guys, hey!” Clint called, arrow trained on the errant god as the rest quickly prepared themselves, “Something’s wrong with Popsicle.”_

_Instead of his usual swagger, Loki stumbled down the unsure sand. Instead of his immaculate appearance his hair fell untamed around his shoulders and he wore his loose green undershirt over his trousers. The loss of his vanity set the Avengers on edge._

_“You can all go home! All of you! It’s all over, Asgard is victorious, yet again!” He sounded drunk. Despite the horrors a drunken god of Mischief could inflict Tony fliped back his face-plate and took a few steps closer to Loki._

_“Brother…” Thor called out, desperation lacing his voice._

_“I am not your brother you vain, ignorant….Go back to Asgard and celebrate being alive. You mortals can go and feel smug that once again you escaped annihilation.” Loki turned to stride away up the dune but he stumbled to his knees. Tony wanted to leave as he watched the god force himself to his feet; this was getting too close to Tony Stark seven years ago. “Just thought you should know, give you more time to get Odin off his pedestal. Oh really Sif you think that look scares me? You look as if you have eaten too much boar! Not that I could tell the difference, you are aging so tragically…”_

_“Loki, is Hela alright?” Tony only realised what he had said when Loki’s impossibly bright eyes turned on him, his elegant face moments from crumbling._

_"She is perfect…” He said so quietly Tony barely heard him before he turned to the assembled Asgardians. “Heartbreak has finally killed my Sigyn, Asgard has had their way… Thank you for your concern for my daughter, Tony Stark. I momentarily regret throwing you from the window.” Sigyn was dead? Sigyn was dead. Sigyn had been their friend, she was a kind hearted person…but she had killed all those people. She had been Loki, but for how long? Had she ever been Sigyn? The woman he had met in Italy had been so much like the Sigyn he had known, so healthy. Oh God, she was dead. She had been so alive…_

_Tony staggered back at the news, not caring that five pairs of eyes and one single eyeball was boring into the back of his suit. She was a victim of Loki, of Asgard, of Fate, of herself that had ultimately been let down- he did not know what to feel._

_“Restrain him! We must find out where the monsters are hidden!” A woman’s voice sounded from the crowds of Asgardians and some began to surge forward. Thor made to come between them but Steve was already standing infront of Loki, pulling himself up to his full impressive size, shield held high as he bellowed._

_“Earth does not allow or condone the imprisonment of children! We will not suffer them to be imprisoned…” His speech was cut short by an almighty bang and a blinding flash of blue as Loki disappeared into the ether, leaving the faint floral smell of Ozone behind._

_“You fool!” The same voice screeched from the midst of Asgardians as a woman, a very tall and powerful woman, came storming towards Steve. “You have just let that Jotun escape our justice and the only chance we have of ridding ourselves of those dangerous half-breeds!”_

_“Hey, Lady!” Tony called out before Thor could rebuke her. She was beautiful, no doubt about that, sun kissed hair and skin, chiselled face containing bottomless brown eyes; but something about her was as wrong than Loki. “You Skadi by any chance?”_

_“What concern is it of yours?”_

_“You are what aggravated our ‘current problem’ to destroy the Eastern sea-board of the United States as well as quite a chunk of Asia. I think it is best that you vacate the earth at the soonest possible moment and do not set foot back here or you will be forceably evicted as a threat to the safety of this planet.”_


	19. Thor's friend must sue for mercy.

_“Sigyn, are you afraid?”_

_“For myself, no. For you my dear…you must not go against Thor. You know what your grandmother told you.” Jormungandr sighed, straightening to his full height like his father did when he was going to do what he wanted. “Enough of our blood has been spilt. Do not add to our wounds.” Sigyn said coldly, keeping her eyes locked on those superior yellow orbs. The owner blinked first and looked away. Sigyn would not be trifled with._

_“I am ready Ma’. You think it is time..?” Fenrir leant his head on his step-mothers arm, wide blue eyes looking up at her to wait for the signal. His tail would be wagging if he were a wolf._

_Sigyn had never been the leader, never been the one standing at the front of her huddled sisters and cousins to demand answers from the god who was standing between them and the safety of the ocean. She did not like it, but she would be the strongest. She could do nothing else. She ran a hand through Fenrir’s wavy hair as she spoke, “Find Skadi, and rip her apart for your brothers.” The boy grinned his predatory, sharp toothed smile and sprinted across the hall to leap from one of the high, arching windows. The end of an enormous, bushy black tail was the last they saw of him before the almighty thud and a snarl that shook the floor of the golden hall._

_The screaming started._

_“Not for my own pride Sigyn, I would transform to protect you.” Jormungandr said softly, sharp eyes flicking nervously to the doors of the hall as the palace came to life._

_“No need, darling.” Sigyn rocked up onto her toes to press a kiss to her step-son’s bowed head. “Your Poppa would be proud. Now, go find Sleipnir and protect your kin…” In the golden light of the hall, as he turned to look down at her with an accepting half smile, he looked the image of his father._

_Sigyn forced the bile back down._

_Jormungandr jogged down the steps and began to chant over the Rune stones Loki had created in his exile to enhance his teleporting powers. It was then that the doors crashed open._

_Thor halted, flanked by the Warriors Three, stood before all the guards in the palace. Jormungandr hesitated, pulling himself up to his full regal height as he glared into Thor’s shocked face._

_“Brother…” Thor began, anger and pleading taking an equal footing in his voice._

_“No, I am your death **Uncle**.” Jormungandr spat and dropped the stones. The outline of a colossal snake hovered in the centre of the hall before the blue-flash of the Runes blinded everyone in the hall, the rushing boom shaking the very teeth in their skulls as the air filled with the smell of Ozone. _

_The screaming and howling from outside the hall was the first sound to come back into the hall. Odin arrived as panic began to set in, bellowing for silence and demanding what had happened from Thor who was visibly shaken by coming face to face with his completely un-serpentine nephew. He pulled Odin to one side to demand to know why this monster was not very monstrous._

_It was then that Frigga’s surprised yell silenced the hall once again. Sigyn was stood silently on the steps of the throne. “Oh my child we thought you were dead! Loki said you were…I am so glad that you are unharmed.” Frigga made to go forward, but Sigyn’s expression stopped her._

_"Unharmed? My sons were murdered and mutilated in front of me; I have been bleeding to death for centuries while mere years passed around me. You let those around you murder me. I am very gravely harmed”_

_Frigga gasped in a sob as Odin and Thor came to stand in front of the suddenly nervous Palace guards. The battle of Vanaheimand the distruction caused was still fresh for them. “Sigyn, leave here and take Loki’s wolf-spawn with you.” The Allfather demanded gruffly, deep down knowing she would not comply._

_“Your grandchild; if you still claim my husband as your son?”_

_“Loki said you were dead.”_

_“I am, my children are murdered and I no longer have a husband.”_

_“What?”_

_“You think that centuries chained to a rock with poison dripping onto his face will not weaken a man? He used magic constantly, to fight off his dept to Thanos, to disguise himself as me, to hide his children from your eyes. You all know how magic drains the life-force. He drained himself undoing your deeds.”_

_“You lie!”_

_“Do I? You were always so perceptive of Loki’s lies.”_

_“Yes, you lie. You would not let us escape when you had us off guard on Midgard. You are not so patient.”_

_“I let you escape because I would do you the honour of letting you die defending your home; your glorious history deserves such an complete ending.” Thor cried out in rage, a fire stoked by years of pain and worry and guilt finally exploded. He swung Mjolnir around and let it go screaming through the air. He did not mean to hit Sigyn, he just wanted all the biting anger that had come into existence at his failed coronation to end._

_It was caught in mid air by an elegant, white hand that flashed out of nowhere. In one graceful sweep the rest of the body stepped into view of everyone in the hall to reveal a tall, elegantly slender and grotesquely beautiful violet eyed, blonde haired man draped in purple and leopard skins._

_“Did you throw this toy at me?” He asked in a soft voice that sent gentle shockwaves through the hall._

_“Yes…no I threw it at…” Thor gasped out. No-one had ever been able to handle Mjolnir apart from him and even he felt the colossal weight of it, and now this creature had plucked it out of the air as if it was a feather._

_The man turned smoothly to look at Sigyn who was still stood resolutely on the golden steps. “You threw it at her?” The man let out a silky laugh. “She has the spark of creation in her, Asgardian. You cannot kill what Gia has made…” He turned back to Thor, an insane glint in his endless eyes. “She is still my brother’s grand-daughter! Her mother was as a sister. Her grandmother bought me up as if she were my own mother…You mean to insult me?”_

_“He meant no disrespect.” Odin barked diplomatically, the unease he had felt in Sigyn’s company was a hundred-fold in this Olympian’s presence._

_“No? The boy should still know to pick on people his own impressive size. A woman is no match for you…” He hardly moved the action was so graceful. Mjolnir tapped Thor on the chest and sent the Thunder-god flying onto his back, skidding across the polished floor to thud into the wall. “Oh, heavier than I judged it to be it seems.” The Olympian mused as he casually dropped Mjolnir to the floor with a dull boom as the Asgardians flew into a panic. “You’ve let them go off the boil Odin. Borr was a far better King than you; we were actually scared of Asgard under his reign.” Sif let out her battle-cry and ran at the Olympian. He stopped her in her tracks with a glare. “Now I see you are weak and fearful. The Vikingr would weep to see you all so…” He turned from the Asgardians and wandered up the steps, stroking Sigyn’s face affectionately as he passed her to lounge on Odin’s throne._

_A shimmer of light sprang from the space the Olympian had emerged from and another man, taller, more muscular with golden hair and golden skin stepped into the hall. His expression was grim. “I am Apollo of the golden bow, grandfather of who you know as Sigyn. You do yourselves no favours.” He announced in a cold tone, golden eyes flicking over the panicked Asgardians before turning his back on them. “Granddaughter, greetings; Dionysus that was unnecessary.”_

_“He let those dear boys be ripped apart when he claimed to love them. I know how being dismembered while still alive feels.” A chill ran though the great hall as the gravity of what they allowed Skadi to do finally sunk in. They had fallen foul of hysteria through fear and Loki's mockery; now they all wished for clearer heads._ _Apollo turned back, his expression terrifying._

_“We acted according to our laws. We have no wish for a war between our peoples.” Odin did not let fear creep into his voice for his people’s sake, how could he fail them again?_

_“War? No. This will not be a war. We lack our morals, this I know, I am one of the most lacking. We do honour family higher than anything, and you have attacked us and our own. Retribution was not ours to take while Loki lived. Sigyn’s sons are dead, and she has returned to her family, to me, now her guardian. Your punishment is now in the hands of Olympus.”_

_“For the death of a son, you murdered two fine young men and took the lives of their parents.” Dionysus hissed from the throne. “You spilt Olympian blood to try and ease your pain…did it soothe you? Did it make the ache of loss go away? Did it stop you looking for your dear son, only to realise he was never going to be there…”_

_“Justice needed to be meted out. If I had let them go free it would only have been prolonging the chaos.”_

_“Prolong? When you forced them back to this place for your justice were they not living in peace?”_

_“Peace? After causing untold damage to Midgard and…”_

_“It was because we were not Asgardian, grand-father. My sons were mongrels from two lesser beings.” The Olympians bristled at Sigyn’s purr._

_“You Olympians feel the need to avenge every wrong you see from your position of languid morality. You would accuse us of such a thing when all your history is of petty infighting and burtal revenge for the mot innocent of slights…” Odin stepped forward to defend his people. He knew what he was guilty of when he let Loki fall, when he sanctioned Skadi’s judgement, but carried on regardless._

_Apollo drew up to his full, horrifying height and blazed so brightly the assembled Asgardians had to look away. “You only have one son left for us to take our revenge, we could take your wife but that will only ‘prolong the chaos’.” Apollo sneered out Odin’s own words, beautiful face so cruel in its victory. “Sigyn will burn Asgard with the power you mocked her husband for capturing. We shall ensure your destruction…” Apollo signalled to Dionysus who gleefully leapt up from lounging across the gold throne and disappeared with Apollo in a swirl of fire as the Asgardian army rushed out of the hall to try and protect home and family from the end._

_Sigyn was left stood in front of the remaining gods, face blank._

_“Sigyn please, this is not the way… you always told me to be calm and merciful, to think of kindness before I acted! I respected you greatly for such wisdom.” Thor said gently, propped up against the far wall with Sif sobbing by his side, his heart breaking under all that had just occurred._

_“Yet you ignored me. Look at the price you will now pay for one rash decision.” She said coldly as the sound of Asgard panicking began to drift into the hall._

_“You have a choice, sister. You always have a choice.”_

_Sigyn growled at Thor and descended from the steps of the throne, her whole being radiating the warm glow of fire as the smell of burning masonry began to waft into the hall. “I have been humiliated and bullied for too long by gods of both realms and the hand of someone else’s fate. Asgard will break; you yourselves left me no choice in that matter. I am not your sister!”_

_“You will only cause untold chaos and war by destroying Asgard. You must know this!” Odin approached her, palms open to try and pacify her._

_“I have tied the Nine Realms to me by treaty and oath, to be sponsored and ratified by their own laws and the great debt all the races owe me for their freedom and comfort. I even hold Midgard by the reigns of their precious money. I will keep the peace in this universe with a far gentler hold than you are capable of, it will feel as if I am hardly touching their strings…and they will love me for it.”_

_"l have heard of what you did on Earth; you have blood of sons and daughters on your hands also. Everyone who has fought does. We acted…”_

_"Your continued pleas’ of innocence are pathetic, we all have the blood of murder and torment on our hands. This fire will purify us all…Odin Borrson, you know of what occurs at your end.”_

_Frigga began to weep. “Daughter, this does not have to be Ragnarokkr. Loki’s daughter is Death! She can bring him back. She can bring my boy back with no memory of any of this and he could be at peace with us. We…we would start afresh. Learn from what has happened…he will find you again.”_

_“Do you not think she would have brought her own father back if she could?”_

_No-one said a word._ _Odin put an arm about his wife. “I at least hoped to see my son again before it came.” he said gruffly._

_“A Father would have been a great comfort to my husband when all around him was darkness and pain.” Sigyn blinked back tears, the first sign of emotion she had shown. Odin took up the great spear Gungir and walked purposefully out of the hall, his age a weight around him. Frigga regained her composure and followed him; at least she would see one of her grandsons before the end of the world._

_“You will gloat will you, bitch! Stand here until you see us all dead. It is well done your sons do not see you like this.” Sif screamed at the still figure at the end of the hall. Sif was near hysterical; she saw that there was nothing anyone could do to save them. Thor put a large, bloodied hand on her shoulder to offer some hollow comfort._

_Sigyn snarled, something of Loki was in that pained expression and Thor’s heart become even heavier. “What happened to you Sif? How did you become at the mercy of the song bird, of the tame beast taught to dance? The bitch constantly on heat has started to snap at your throat, has it? You corrupted all your noble strength and skill with vile abuse. May your pride be a comfort now.”_

_Silence followed, what could be said to that when the end was fast approaching. Even the air was on fire. The thundering as buildings collapsed, the fire roaring with Sigyn’s unleashed rage was the only sound. Thor pulled Sif into him, blood starting to fill his mouth. He went to grasp Mjolnir, a habit more that anything, but his fingers grasped around air._

_He had already forgotten…not that it mattered._

* * *

 

_The fumes had caused the remnants of the Asgardians to pass out before the flames had died down on the outskirts of the palace complex._

_She stood before the cluster of half-dead bodies, arms wrapped around her body tightly, eyes scanning over them and marvelling at the fragility of their lives. A cool hand came to rest on Sigyn’s waist and she finally pulled her gaze away to lean her forehead on a familiar shoulder, trying to find something to comfort the horror of the emptiness inside her now that her Olympian rage had burned itself out._

_“I know you told me to not attempt to come to you, but I could not let you be so alone. Even on the other side of existance your distress was made apparent...” Sigyn wept something unidentifiable into his shoulder as Loki surveyed the pile of bodies at their feet. “Will you let my brother live?” Loki asked quietly as he stroked her hair; Sigyn regained enough composure to answer._

_“We have no hate left. They can rebuild themselves as much as they can…as we both should.”_

_Loki waved his hand and the Tesseract materialised out of the ash filled air. Of course he would raid the vaults of Asgard before he came to her, she expected nothing else. “Would you have me return you to Vanaheim? Or are you demanded on Olympus?”_

_Sigyn glanced up from where she was still tucked into his side, she looked so tired. “I cannot hope to continue without you, let alone direct the Nine Realms without you, but Olympus will not like being tricked. They will have lost the universe if they lose me…”_

_“If those inbred creatures even huff in your direction I will kill them.”_

_Sigyn smiled, “The Runes have finally made you the ruler you were born to be. Even if it will only be for a short while.”_ _She caught the pain flash in Loki’s eyes before he pressed his face into her hair, breathing in a sigh of relief that sent a wave of happiness though Sigyn as the Tesseract began to crackle ominously._

_“Thank you, Sigyn.”_


	20. And pay thee the price of thy lies

“Fucking snakes, it’s always snakes.” Sigyn grumbled as she knelt next to Loki, pressing a broken icicle to the bubbling venom wound on his cheek, the snake above their heads hissing furiously. Why was it always surprised that she came back from emptying its venom outside the cave door? “A bird would be easier to kill, have to come in close to do the damage.” The snow she placed in Loki’s mouth was the most glorious thing in the world, his throat wanted to weep as the ice cold water washed over it. The soft brush of lips against the undamaged part of his own mouth made him want to smile, but he could not.

 

 

 

“..my love you must go, please. Please go. For me. I can’t bear to see you here any more. Leave me here…”

“Shhh now.”

“I have bought you nothing but pain, go and live again.”

“Loki...” “You are selfish and proud and vain! Sitting down here being the martyr to shame Asgard, do you really think they care? You’re a nymph, you are a whore! They care nothing for you. I am not impressed by your resolve or loyalty. Your love is a joke. I only wanted perfect children to rub into Asgard’s face, to show Odin I was a worthy son and I knew a Nymph would be more than willing to be fucked and would spawn as many children as I wished.”

“You know your lies have never worked on me.”

“LEAVE!!!!”

 

 

“…my father always used to say ‘Death haunts us all, it is a sure fact that we will meet her at one point’. He was always such a cheerful dead-man…”

“Not I, I made her.”

“Death was walking abroad long before you brought that dear girl into the world. My mother died before you were even born.”

The silence of the darkened cave stretched out over them.

“Do you feel your death? Does it hurt?”

“No, but I know she is there.”

“Does your father not protect your life force?”

“No-one knows what it is. I may have lived in a cave, but it was on the coast and the clear sea would submerge us each day…when I was not swimming I would be in the forests. My mother died before she could say what I was. It’s as comforting as it is terrifying.”

“I am sorry you will die down here.”

“No I won’t. I was killing snakes with rocks before Odin set foot on earth.”

"You _are_ ancient, aren't you?

 Sigyn caught her attempt at a smile and laughed. The snake hissed furiously.

 

 

 “Thank you, Sigyn.”

 

 

 

A half conscious squeak from Sigyn woke Loki. When he looked over at her she was already dozing again, the bowl tipping dangerously over his head. “Sigyn, Sigyn!” It was agony to speak, but the reward of loving silver eyes looking at him from between fluttering lashes made it worth it. She smiled at him and carefully lent the bowl on his head, one strong hand still holding it in position as she lay alongside him, using his dirty arm as a pillow.

 

 

Something changed in the atmosphere of the icy cave. It made Loki put aside his pain for a moment as he peered up, past Sigyn’s familiar bowl, at the snake. It was coiling uneasily…it had finally lost its patience.

This, then, was to be the end of it all. “Love you.”

“And I you, increasingly” She lent to kiss his ribs, the movement awkward. He felt the rock he was tied to shudder as a chunk of it came away in Sigyn’s hand, weakened at one end and sharpened at another by the venom Sigyn dropped on it, caught in her simple bowl from the snakes dripping fangs.

“No more words. Close your eyes.”


	21. EPILOGUE

Maryam looked down at the delicate objects she was cradling against her chest. They were still cool from the white, trembling hand that had pressed them into her palm only a few moments ago with a whisper in a language she would never know.

 She waited for the cleansing smoke to fade away before stepping out from the room and into the darkness. She ran through the corridors of the temple that twisted and turned to prevent the uninitiated from finding their way into the depths. She caught the tinkling bells of the priestesses as they echoed in the dark and pushed herself into an alcove as a shriek, ripped from the very core of suffering, came thundering from behind her and the priestesses broke into a run. She caught a glimpse of burning white in the darkness as they passed and remembered not to grip her cargo so tight.

  When the Svartalmar had passed, Maryam continued running up the narrow corridor until the light from the threshold of the temple bathed her. She took a moment to let her eyes adjust to the cool winter light. She could see the land below the temple from the door, a plain of lush grass reaching in every direction, a sapphire river cutting across the landscape; the white spires of far off mountain cities peaking out from the mist on the horizon.

  She took a deep breath and reluctantly turned her back on the light and to the spiral staircase in the wall of the temple. She knew she needed to sprint up there, but the steps were worn almost smooth by the millennia of feet ascending to the roof. She almost lost her footing when another scream echoed up from the back of temple. Her heart thundered in her ears as she desperately clung to her cargo, if she dropped it...well, that was not to be dwelt on.

 Sacred trees, bark worn as white and smooth as stone from years of salty winters storms, intertwined to create the open chamber on the roof of the temple.

 In the centre of the pure space stood a streak of red; at the sound of Maryam's panting it moved, swirling to face her with sunken, dull grey eyes. Maryam held out her cargo as a tombstone smile made her shiver.

 "Careful now." Bloodied hands momentarily brushed Maryam's as the blue stones were finally removed from her possession.

 Three years ago Hela had been a sickly little girl, being released from the underworld and in the care of her family she grew rapidly into whatever she was now. Neither living nor dead, she was sexless and ageless; Hela WAS.

  Hela was a Ráðherra - a member of the Great Council of Svartalheim- elected into the position Sigyn had turned down for Loki's sake. The hair on the right side of her head had been shaved off until just behind her ear,the hair remaining falling in a long braid over her gaunt shoulder.

  Another scream echoed into the chamber, this one more drawn out than the others, ending in a choked shriek.

"They are getting closer..." Hela looked right through Maryam to the stairwell behind her, hesitating.

"Do you hear a death?" Maryam asked quietly. Hela shook her head, eyes wider than ever. "Then there is no need to worry. Your father is in capable hands." Hela looked at Maryam a moment before slotting one of the stones into the heel of her boot and shooing the Midgardian back. Maryam curled into one of the trees as Hela muttered something and the chamber shook with the sonic boom of the teleporter stones.

 Maryam let herself sink to the floor to watch a crowd begin to gather around the temple as another sobbing scream echoed up to her.

* * *

 

_"...And admit that the waters Around you have grown_

_And accept it that soon_

_You'll be drenched to the bone_

_If your time to you Is worth savin'..."_

Tony frowned awake. Why was Bob Dylan singing to him?

_"...Come writers and critics_

_Who prophesize with your pen_

_And keep your eyes wide_

_The chance won't come again..."_

Pepper was still fast asleep, red hair spread across her pillows like a work of art. Tony picked up his tablet to look at the security from each room in the house. His custom made dock was lit up like a Christmas tree in the dark of the bar.

_"...There's a battle outside And it is ragin'_

_It'll soon shake your windows_

_And rattle your walls_

_For the times they are a-changin'..."_

Tony typed in the control code to turn it off. Nothing happened.

Pepper mumbled in her sleep and pulled the comforter up over her head to block out the noise. Tony would have to get up to fix it.

As Tony padded across the house he caught a faint smell. Flowers? Had he got Pepper flowers? Had he done anything to merit buying her flowers?

 "Shit." Tony whispered to himself, quickly calling up the Mark XIII to standby just in case. Tony edged into the bar, the lights coming on as he stepped fully into the room and froze.

It looked female, but he wouldn't want to bet on it. Gaunt and ashen with blood across its hands and face, hair strange, alien clothes all in the same shade of rich red that glimmered in the man-made light.

_"...The line it is drawn_

_The curse it is cast_

_The slow one now_

_Will later be fast..."_

The creature nodded to him, "Hello Metal Man." Tony was stunned into silence. "I am rude enough to help myself to both your drink and music. I beg your pardon." She made a small, formal bow and strolled behind the bar.

While Tony stared wide eyed she poured him a scotch and slid it across the bar to him. Tony, never taking his eyes off her, knocked the drink down in one. The burn jolted him out of his shock. "You cannot be Hela..." She smiled a not very pleasant smile. "Jeez, you grew quickly."

"The underworld does that to one. We three are all affected by that time. I have grown up into what I am." She waved her green drink at him. "What is this called?"

"Uh...Midori, it’s made from Melon."

"Melon." Hela tried the word as she took a sip.

_"...Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship_

_My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip_

_My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels_

_To be wanderin'_

_I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade..."_

"So, uh...you like Bob Dylan?"

"Oh yes, when on Earth last time I found it a most agreeable sound." She stared at him; unblinking, dead grey eyes making Tony feel oddly comforted.

"How did you by-pass Jarvis' security system?"

"I do not know. I can only assume my lack of life threw the voice somewhat. Do not be alarmed, there is no definition to what I am or how I exist. I am here to give you warning. Well, Midgard - but as Ma counts you as someone trustworthy I have been sent to you." She finished her Midori.

_"...Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free_

_Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands_

_With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves_

_Let me forget about today until tomorrow..."_

"A rogue army from several realms is causing trouble; attacking populations, burning temples. They are heading to Midgard... oh I don't know why, why not? You do a very good impression of being useless."

"...Thanks?..."

"I'm being rude to you! Don't be grateful. You have a warning to set up defences. The Runes only know, but you are dangerous enough when taken by surprise. It is impossible for the Realms to prevent them coming here. Uniting them in an army would take far, far, faaar too long and none would wish to be left out! Ma is not powerful enough to stop them and Father is indisposed at the moment. There will be help, just not as soon as anyone would wish."

"That’s...I am very grateful to Loki! I mean, the motivations of that guy must be... wait, your Ma?" Hela nodded, picking up the bottle of Midori to examine it further.

"Your Ma as in..?"

"Sigyn. You were fooled? Damn, I have lost my bet with Fenrir." Tony shook his head and joined Hela around the back of the bar, pouring himself another drink before fishing out an unopened bottle of Midori for her.

"What’s wrong with your Dad?" The atmosphere in the room changed. The metal in Tony's chest became freezing.

"There is nothing wrong with him!"

"I didn't..."

"She nearly died last time. I know of death, and it would catch Ma if..." Hela smiled and the atmosphere calmed. "I say too much. Farewell Metal Man. Runes be kind to your soul." She backed into the centre of the room, waved the bottle at Tony in thanks and stamped her foot.

Tony ducked behind the bar as the thundering boom made the glasses around him shatter, setting Jarvis' warning systems off. Tony stood and finished his drink as he entered in the alarm code, Pepper stumbling into the bar dazed and panicked.

At least SHIELD would be coming to him this time.

**Author's Note:**

> With heaps and piles of thanks to my very own JARVIS who spelt and grammar checked the whole thing; and who made sure it made sense to those of you not living in my head.


End file.
